What If complete
by Tanya4
Summary: What if the best thing in their lives is the one thing they've been denying themselves.
1. Default Chapter

PART I  
  
"That's not fair."  
  
"What's unfair Teresa?"  
  
"It's not fair that you put me through this agony whenever it suits you. It's not fair that you married Gwen. It's not fair that you are always breaking my heart, and it's not fair to Gwen that you are always thinking of me, lusting after me while you're lying in bed next to her, while you're making love to her. Is it me you see when you close your eyes? Is it me you see when you open them?"  
  
"You lied, and you schemed. I can't trust you."  
  
"You can't trust me? Because you are so trustworthy, Ethan? Is that it?"  
  
"Of course I am."  
  
"What are you doing in my room then, kissing me?"  
  
"I told you, I thought it was a dream."  
  
"So did I and yet you accuse me of lying. Who's to say that you're not the one lying?"  
  
"I never lie, Teresa. You know that as well as I do."  
  
Teresa had a sarcastic laugh.  
  
"And yet, here you are standing here with me. Do you realize what you just said?"  
  
Ethan didn't answer. He merely looked at Teresa and then stared intently at his feet.  
  
"That's right Ethan. You said that you loved me and there is no mistake about it."  
  
"I didn't mean it."  
  
"Of course you didn't.keep lying to yourself, Ethan. But this was the last straw, I am through with you. Now get out!"  
  
And he did. He left the room and closed the door behind him. Teresa went in her bed and cried as she hadn't done since the night that Ethan had chosen Gwen over her.  
  
"How could he be so cruel?"  
  
*****  
  
Fox stood in his room and listened as the screaming coming from Teresa's bedroom stopped. He opened his door and walked down the hall.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?"  
  
"I don't have to justify myself to you Ethan."  
  
"Leave Teresa alone!"  
  
Fox smiled at his half brother sarcastically and shook his head.  
  
"I'm not staying away from her. She is my closest friend and you hurt her again, so I'm going to her whether you like it or not."  
  
"And I said no."  
  
The animosity Fox felt towards Ethan was threatening to spill.  
  
"I would back off if I were you Ethan. You have no idea how much I want to rip your head off for what you did to Teresa."  
  
"She'll get over it."  
  
"Trust me, Ethan. She will get over it and over you. I will see to it."  
  
Fox walked past Ethan and knocked at Teresa's room where he could hear her sob. He took a deep breath and knocked softly as he turned the knob.  
  
"Go away!"  
  
"It's me, Resa, unlock the door, please!"  
  
"No."  
  
"I'm not going anywhere until you do."  
  
At last, he heard the lock turn and saw the knob turn. Teresa's face appeared to him, washed by the tears that she cried.  
  
"Fox, I don't think I can do this. My heart can't take anymore breaking."  
  
"Come here."  
  
She went in his arms and stayed there for a little while. She then tore from him and went back inside the room where he followed her. He turned around to close the door and saw Ethan's face flushed with anger and jealousy. 


	2. Part 2

Part II  
  
"Oh, come on now!"  
  
"No, I'm telling you. Fate is the one thing I will always rely on."  
  
"Maybe it's time you grew up a little Teresa. Fate does exist, but you can't force it the way you do."  
  
"I'm not forcing anything."  
  
Fox and Teresa were walking slowly in the cold sand as the sun was disappearing in the horizon to give way to the night and the stars. They both stopped and looked at the orange, red and yellow lights that reflected upon the ocean. Teresa had a smile.  
  
"Isn't this the most wonderful thing you've ever seen in your life?"  
  
"You always say that Teresa."  
  
"But it's true, the sunsets in New England aren't quiet as unique as the ones we see here in California."  
  
Fox looked at the mesmerized Teresa and couldn't help but smile. She looked up as she felt his gaze fall upon her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing. It just seems that everyday that goes by is a day that I discover you even more."  
  
"Oh, I see. And?"  
  
"And what?"  
  
They started walking again and their arms brushed against one another. Instinctively, Teresa took his arm.  
  
"You said that you discovered me even more."  
  
"Well I guess I'm always amazed by you and by the things I learn about you."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Fox didn't answer. Teresa walked in front of him and turned around to face him. He stopped, put his hands in his swim trunks back pockets and stood there, facing her.  
  
"Well yeah! But then, there are other times when I feel like putting my hand over your mouth so that I never hear the word Ethan or fate put in the same sentence."  
  
"What can I say, Fox? I love him. He is the only one I'll ever love."  
  
Fox started walking again, frustrated to see how stubborn Teresa can be at times or all the time for that matter.  
  
"Fox wait up! My legs aren't as long as yours."  
  
Fox stopped and sat on the sand. Teresa joined him and sat beside him.  
  
"Are you upset with me, Fox?"  
  
"No, it's just that you don't seem to learn from anything, Teresa. You left Harmony to put some distance between you and your feelings for Ethan and yet, every two words that comes out of that pretty little mouth of yours is Ethan. It is very tiresome for me and for Chad and Whitney."  
  
"But this is what I believe, Fox. Fate will bring me and Ethan together."  
  
"But what if by forcing Fate the way you have, you miss out on what's meant to be?"  
  
Teresa looked at Fox with puzzlement.  
  
"How do you mean?"  
  
"Look at what happened the day of his wedding to Gwen. You had papers sent out to him for the sole purpose of having Gwen dump him at the altar. That is forcing fate. What if by making mistakes like that one, you miss out on your fate and what or who is really meant for you?"  
  
Teresa turned her attention back to the ocean. The night was falling slowly, but the air was still warm and held that salty smell that was so proper to the ocean.  
  
"Think about it for a second Teresa. Everything that happens, happens for a reason. Our future is written for us before we take our first breath in the world.."  
  
"But we have the power to change our future, Fox."  
  
"Maybe we do, and maybe we don't. The bottom line is that whatever detours you take, fate will take you right back where you are meant to be. It just takes you longer than it should."  
  
"Well it will take the time it will for me and Ethan to be together. I can wait."  
  
"Can you really wait for him to realize where his heart really lies?"  
  
Teresa nodded and smiled.  
  
"Him and I are meant to be, you know."  
  
"If you were meant to be, then nothing would have come between you. Not your lies, not your pregnancy or not Gwen's pregnancy."  
  
He looked at Teresa and saw the look of sadness in her eyes.  
  
"Look at your brother, Teresa. Miguel got Kay pregnant, and yet he is sticking by Charity because she is the one he loves, but it doesn't mean that he loves his child any less or doesn't want to be there for it when it is born. He is committed to the woman he loves and to his child and Ethan could have done the same thing but he didn't."  
  
"Gwen threatened to go to New York."  
  
"Well Ethan is more of a coward than I thought. Things can be worked out you know. Him and Gwen could have just sat down for a few hours and worked everything out, but he chose the easier solution. What does that tell you?"  
  
"That he wants to be a father to his child."  
  
"No, Teresa, that tells you that he chose the easy way out of this one. He didn't want to make his life complicated. He may love you Teresa, and you may be the woman of his life, but he was never willing to go the distance for you. He was never willing to sacrifice himself the way you sacrificed yourself for him."  
  
"But fate, Fox.it is strong."  
  
"And so is destiny, Teresa. You'll end up with the person you are destined to be with and Ethan is not it. The man you will end up with will love you unconditionally, with all you flaws and qualities and he will love your son as well because he is the best part of you. That man will look past everything and will see you, Teresa and no one else and he will never let anything stand in his way to be with you. He will love you because he won't have the choice but to love you when he lays his eyes upon that beautiful face of yours."  
  
"Such a man doesn't exist Fox. He lives only in my mind."  
  
"Trust me, Teresa. When you see him, you'll know and he does exist. He will come and just blow you away."  
  
"But my dreams, Fox.my beliefs."  
  
"Dreams are nice, Teresa but that's all they are. As for your beliefs, well maybe it's time you grew out of some of them."  
  
"I didn't know you were such a philosopher Fox."  
  
"There is a lot you don't know Teresa."  
  
Teresa looked at Fox with a smile on her face.  
  
"Maybe you are right."  
  
"I know I am."  
  
He got up and pulled her up with him.  
  
"So how about that swim? Isn't this the reason we came down here in the first place?"  
  
Teresa took off her sun dress and Fox took off his shirt and they both walked towards the ocean.  
  
"The water is cold."  
  
"If you stay close to me, Teresa I will keep you warm."  
  
He winked at her and she laughed at him.  
  
"You are impossible Fox, you know that?"  
  
"Of course I do, my dear! But of course I do."  
  
He pulled her close to him as they both walked in the water.  
  
"You and your brilliant ideas, Foxworth Crane. Taking a swim in the freezing water and in the dark."  
  
"Is this a hint of sarcasm I detect in your voice? Besides, what's a midnight swim if without the darkness of the night?"  
  
"But it's not midnight yet."  
  
"Doesn't have to be, darling. All you need is a pitch dark night and you're all set. Now let's get you wet!"  
  
"Oh no you don't."  
  
"We'll just have to see about that, now won't we."  
  
Fox went after Teresa and stopped for a moment and watched her run and take a dive in the water. He hoped that for at least this night, she wouldn't think of Ethan and mention his name. 


	3. Part 3

Part III  
  
Teresa's eyes fluttered open. The sunlight was soft coming through the pale curtains and caressed her face with warmth. She sat up and stretched, she pulled her legs together under the covers and put her arms around them as she leaned her head on her knees. She turned her head as she heard a noise coming from behind the door and saw it open. Fox made his way inside holding a breakfast plateau.  
  
"I see that you're finally awake."  
  
"Hi.you should have woken me up."  
  
"I think you had a pretty rough night Teresa. You deserve a break."  
  
Teresa forced a smile upon her face and felt that tears were about to start spilling yet again from her eyes. Fox sat beside her and put the tray down between them.  
  
"What is this?"  
  
"It is called breakfast, the most important meal of the day."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I'm not hungry."  
  
Fox looked at Teresa disappointed.  
  
"Look, you eat on your own free will or I'm forcing it down your throat. You didn't even have dinner last night, Teresa."  
  
"Can you blame me?"  
  
"No, of course not. What Ethan did to you last night was awful. You didn't deserve it."  
  
"Thank you for been there for me, Fox. It meant a lot."  
  
"Well, nothing would have kept me away last night. Now, eat up."  
  
"You cooked?"  
  
"Of course I did."  
  
Teresa looked at the plates and smiled.  
  
"I have to admit that it really looks good. How long did it take you?"  
  
Fox laughed.  
  
"You'll know when you see the poor state I left the kitchen in."  
  
Teresa giggled at Fox's response. She looked at him as he moved on the bed and faced her. He put the plateau between them.  
  
"This is my famous scrambled egg a la Fox. And it is delicious if I say so myself."  
  
"Always loved your modesty, Nicholas."  
  
She took her fork to her mouth as he watched her attentively.  
  
"So, did I pass the test?"  
  
A wide smile spread across Teresa's face as she looked at Fox.  
  
"This is good. Wow, I am impressed Fox. A Crane who can cook and who knows the diffrence between a frying pan and a pot. What else is there that I don't know about you, Fox?"  
  
"Stick around and you'll find out. In the meantime, you are helping me clean the kitchen Teresa."  
  
She grimaced at the thought of cleaning.  
  
"Can't I just stay in bed?"  
  
"No, you can't. I can't clean the mess that I made on my own and the dishwasher is not working."  
  
"It was working fine when I loaded it with the dishes yesterday lunch."  
  
Fox put his hand at the back of his head and ran it in his hair.  
  
"I pulled something in it and it made this really weird noise and then it just stopped."  
  
"Let me get changed and I will help you out."  
  
Teresa got out of bed and looked out the window. It was another beautiful and gorgeous day in Southern California. The ocean was as blue as ever and the sun was shinning as brightly as it had the previous day and yet, Teresa couldn't shake the feeling of melancholy that fell upon her as she looked at couples walking together and holding hands.  
  
"Why do you think he was so cruel to me last night?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe he is just so much of an idiot that he doesn't realize what a good thing is when it is staring it in the face."  
  
"The fact that he was dreaming of me means that what he feels for me is very deep."  
  
"Maybe, but Teresa.you need to move on. You cannot give him the chance to crush you the way he did last night."  
  
"I know.I'm going to jump in the shower and I'll join you in the kitchen."  
  
"Alright."  
  
Fox picked up the tray and walked out the room, but not before taking another glance at Teresa. Last night had been rough on her. He had stayed with her most of the night as she cried in his arms. When she fell asleep, he went back to his room, but it wasn't long before she had joined him and slept beside him.  
  
*****  
  
"If I stay alone tonight, I don't know what will happen to me, Fox. I don't know what I will do to myself."  
  
He had invited her to his bed and she had slept, curled up next to him. Since the day he had met her, Teresa had always been a fighter, a survivor.but Ethan seemed to have drained all the life out of her and Fox had seen it. From the previous night when Teresa was so vivacious until that kiss, that fight and all the tears she had cried, Teresa had become vulnerable and broken and Fox felt broken for her.  
  
*****  
  
Teresa walked in the shower and leaned her back to the wall as water washed over her. She hadn't had this hard of a night since.well since Bermuda and now, she was confronted to an entirely different situation. Ethan was lying to himself, about his feelings for her.  
  
"I'm done pursuing him. I can't keep been crushed like this time after time. If he loves me, he will just come back to me on his own. But I am not putting my life on hold for him anymore, I am through with this."  
  
She thought back to when she had woken up in the middle of the night scared and frightened, how lost she felt when she saw that the place beside her was empty. She had walked in the hallway past Whitney's door and into Fox's bedroom where she found him asleep. She felt bad that she had to wake him, but she needed him. She needed a friend and he understood her better than anyone. He had been kind to her and understanding. She had curled up beside him and laid her head on the same pillow and then drifted in a deep sleep from which she awoke in the morning. There were no bad dreams, no nightmares. She felt like nothing could touch her as long as she stayed beside him.  
  
Teresa closed the water and came out of the shower. She dried her hair, got dressed and made her way to the kitchen where Fox was sitting on the counter sipping a mimosa. His spirits were high and Teresa envied him for been in such a great mood. She looked around the kitchen.  
  
"I wouldn't be so cheery if I were you. This kitchen looks like a war zone. Did you have a food fight this morning."  
  
Fox looked at with innocence and charm.  
  
"No, I just made you breakfast."  
  
"Maybe we should get started if we want to do something else today."  
  
"Yes, ma'am. Your wish is my command."  
  
"Oh stop it, Fox. I soap, you rinse."  
  
"Do I have to?"  
  
"Yes, you do Crane. Now start working or I'll make you dry everything as well."  
  
Fox gave her a grotesque look and she laughed at his expression.  
  
"Your laughter is like music to my ears, Resa."  
  
"The only reason I'm laughing is because I have you to make me laugh and cheer me up."  
  
Fox put down the plate and faced her as she did the same.  
  
"Well, you did it for me plenty of times, Teresa. And besides, what are friends for?"  
  
"True, but not all friends would have done what you did for me last night. You kept me from going insane, from hurting myself."  
  
"And you did the same for me as well."  
  
Teresa stood on her toes and kissed Fox on the cheek.  
  
"Thank you for last night, and thank you for this morning."  
  
"Anything to see you smile and hear you laugh, Teresa. Anything.."  
  
Ethan stood under the kitchen's door and watched as his brother cozied up with his Teresa. He didn't like it at all and he certainly didn't like the fact that they both seemed comfortable with each other. He walked away from the kitchen and into the living room where he sat. He had pondered the thought of finding another place for him and Gwen, but now he didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave Teresa behind with Fox. 


	4. Part 4

Part IV  
  
"I thought I would get to see more of you since you got here, but you've made yourself very scarce."  
  
Fox looked up at his friend and took his martini glass to his lips sipping it slowly.  
  
"I've just been busy, man. You know how it is."  
  
Dylan had a laugh and ordered himself another whisky.  
  
"The fair sex, huh. That Whitney has got all turned up."  
  
"Actually, I haven't had the luxury of been around Whitney lately."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"Well, my dear good half brother Ethan was nothing short of complete ass to Teresa. It has been days since he lashed out at her and she isn't recovering from it."  
  
Dylan didn't say anything for a while, then he looked at Fox.  
  
"So you are taking care of your hot ex-step mama?"  
  
"Cut it out, Dyl. She was never my step mother to begin with."  
  
"She may not have been, but I remember a time when she was the only one on your mind."  
  
It was Fox's turn to keep silent.  
  
"Come on Fox. Level with me. How do you feel about the beautiful Teresa?"  
  
"She is a very good friend. She is the one person I never want to disappoint."  
  
"And why is that, Fox?"  
  
"I don't know, really. I guess she has been disappointed so often in her life, that it would hurt me if I hurt her."  
  
"How noble of you! Developing a conscience and a soul?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe."  
  
"So, what about Whitney?"  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"You're in love with her, aren't you?"  
  
"Why do you keep asking me questions? Bartender, the tab please..Dylan leave everything alone."  
  
"Only if you pick up my tab."  
  
"Sure, whatever."  
  
Fox took his wallet out and looked through for his credit card.  
  
"So, Fox.you don't feel anything for the gorgeous Teresa and yet, you carry a picture of her in your wallet."  
  
"What I carry in my wallet is none of your business."  
  
Fox kept flipping through looking for his visa.  
  
"Seriously, Fox.how many pictures do you have of her in there. Is he her son?"  
  
"Yes, that's my half brother."  
  
"Hmm, good looking kid."  
  
Fox didn't say anything, he pulled his card out and Dylan snatched the wallet from his hands. He pulled out the pictures and looked at them one after the other.  
  
"How many do you have?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Well I'll give that, she is absolutely breath taking. And you want to remain friends with her for what reason?"  
  
"Because."  
  
"That's no answer, Fox."  
  
Fox got up after he got his credit card back, put it back in his wallet in plain sight, took the pictures and walked out the club. Dylan followed him.  
  
"I love California, it's always warm and sunny."  
  
"Teresa says that everyday."  
  
"Well, Fox.maybe I should meet the lovely Teresa."  
  
"And maybe you should just stay away from her."  
  
Both him and Dylan walked on the sunny beach. Fox was fixing the sand in a distance, trying to avoid listening to what Dylan had to say.  
  
"And why should I stay away from her? She is fair game, Fox. She is single and gorgeous, and I would like to get to know her."  
  
"Dylan, she's nothing like the girls we knew in Europe or over here. She is different and that's what makes her so special."  
  
"Care to enlighten me?"  
  
"She is sweet."  
  
"So were many of the girls we slept with."  
  
"No, she is a different kind of sweet, she has this innocence about her although she has been through a lot in her life. She is naïve, but in a refreshing way. She knows the facts of life, but she is still a dreamer and an idealist."  
  
"How would you describe her in one word, Fox?"  
  
"I guess amazing is the word to describe her. She is amazing. She has a way about her, I don't know how to describe it."  
  
"And how would you describe Whitney?"  
  
"I don't know, perfect. Perfect sums it up."  
  
Dylan looked at Fox and laughed.  
  
"What is so funny?"  
  
"To me, it seems that Whitney would be too much for you to handle."  
  
"How do you mean?"  
  
"Isn't she as sainted as your half brother Ethan?"  
  
They arrived in front of the courtyard and stopped.  
  
"Maybe I'll drop by a little later for dinner."  
  
"So you're inviting yourself, now?"  
  
"I've always done it, Fox. Can cook make me something special?"  
  
"There is no cook this time around, it's the girls who make the food."  
  
"And you make breakfast, right?"  
  
"Something like that."  
  
Fox walked in the complex as Dylan watched him.  
  
"So I will get to meet the infamous Teresa after all." 


	5. Part 5

Part V  
  
Teresa laid on Fox's bed and pulled the covers all the way to her chin. She felt like crying when she heard Ethan's voice in the hallway and Gwen's throat explode with laughter. It was like a knife through her heart. She tossed in the bed and closed her eyes.  
  
"I wish Fox was here."  
  
In the past few days, she had come to know Fox better than she thought possible. Of course, there were the long talks they always had, bit this time things were different. He had opened her his home to her, then his bedroom where she slept every night next to him and where he never moved in on her. And now, he seemed to be opening his heart as well.  
  
Teresa sat up and looked around her confused as she heard a soft knocking on the door. She didn't say anything, she just waited. The door opened slowly and a dark head popped.  
  
"Teresa, are you asleep?"  
  
Teresa breath a sigh of relief.  
  
"No, come in."  
  
"How are you feeling, sweetie?"  
  
"I'm okay."  
  
Whitney looked at Teresa and gave her an encouraging smile.  
  
"you look a little better. Your eyes aren't as red as they were and you're not as pale either."  
  
"Physically, I'm alright. But inside, I'm a mess. Why are these things always happening to me? Am I such a bad person that I don't deserve to be happy? Am I so unworthy in his eyes that he would trash me the way he did?"  
  
"I never want to hear you say that, Teresa. You are worth more than you'll ever know. If anyone is unworthy it's Ethan because he doesn't know who you really are."  
  
Teresa and Whitney both looked up as Fox walked in the room and closed the door behind him. He made his way around the bed and sat beside Teresa.  
  
"Hello, lovely! I brought you something."  
  
He pulled his hand from behind his back and showed Teresa a small DVD player.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Well press play and watch."  
  
Teresa took the DVD from Fox and pressed the play button. Images started filling the screen.  
  
"Where did you get this?"  
  
"Your mother sent it to me. I asked her to make it for you."  
  
Teresa looked at the screen again and saw her son holding on the coffee table in the Lopez-Fitzgerald home and walking slowly and then faster. She laughed as he fell and wanted to cry when she heard his laughter.  
  
"I never thought I could miss someone as much as I miss him."  
  
She felt choked up with emotion. Her eyes began to water and her throat hurt her as she repressed her tears.  
  
"I didn't bring you this to make you feel horrible, Teresa. I wanted to cheer you up. You said that you missed your son, so I tried to bring a piece of him to you."  
  
"I know, I'm not upset, I just miss him."  
  
Fox smiled at Teresa as he kissed her forehead. He left the bed and opened the door.  
  
"come in!"  
  
A young woman walked in the room, holding Teresa's son in her arms. Fox took him from her and brought him to his mother who was just sitting there motionless.  
  
"This is Molly, she is the babysitter I hired to keep an eye on your son when we go out and there your little boy, Teresa. I thought that having him here with you would be great. I know how much you miss him, and I know that he missed his adoring and caring Mama too."  
  
Fox dismissed the babysitter with a look and handed the child to Teresa who took him. She looked at the little boy with a smile on her face and he smiled back at her when she ruffled his hair and kissed his cheeks. His arms shouted up and went around Teresa's neck. She got out of bed and stood there is the middle of the room holding him tightly with a wide smile on her face. She turned to Fox who was standing beside Whitney.  
  
"Thank you for doing this Fox. You are a true friend. I will never forget your gesture for as long as I live."  
  
"Does that mean you owe me?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
Fox laughed as he looked at Teresa's face. She had become worried for a second or two.  
  
"Don't worry, Teresa. I'm not going to make you jump through hoops or anything like that. But there is something I want you to do for me."  
  
"Name it!"  
  
"I want you to get out of this room, this apartment and enjoy yourself. I don't want you to be cooked up here while everyone else is having a good time."  
  
Teresa nodded and went up to Fox.  
  
"Where will he sleep?"  
  
Fox took the child from her and looked him straight in the eyes.  
  
"In this room with us, silly!"  
  
"But he wakes up at night."  
  
"Remember my first night back to Harmony, Teresa?"  
  
"How can I forget? It was pretty eventful."  
  
"Well, I shared the nursery with him that night and a few nights after that. Him and I are buddies and it's nice to talk to someone who can't reply back!"  
  
"You're too much, Fox!"  
  
"And handsome as well. You forgot to add that I was handsome and that the little guy takes after me."  
  
Teresa sighed and then looked at Fox with a twinkle in her eye.  
  
"You are handsome, and my son takes after his big brother."  
  
"Thank you for finally admitting the obvious. I'll leave you ladies alone. By the way, one of my friends might be joining us for dinner."  
  
"Does your friend have a name?"  
  
"Dylan, Dylan Banning."  
  
"So I will get to meet the other half?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
Fox walked out of the room and made his way to the living room. Teresa went after him.  
  
"Where are you going with my son?  
  
"Down to the pool. I'm going to teach him how to swim."  
  
He left the apartment and Teresa stood there shaking her head with a wide smile on her face. She turned around and saw both Ethan and Gwen staring at her.  
  
"It's a wonderful day, isn't it?"  
  
She was cheerful and happy. And not that her son was with her, she was starting to feel complete. 


	6. Part 6

Part VI  
  
"Fox really cares about you, doesn't he?"  
  
"He is a really great guy. It's a shame that his family doesn't realize it."  
  
"Yes, you're right."  
  
Teresa and Whitney were both in the kitchen making dinner.  
  
"So what do you think his friend Dylan is like?"  
  
"He is exactly like Fox. Bad and not to be trusted."  
  
Teresa's head whipped as she heard the voice. She looked at Ethan and then turned back to Whitney.  
  
As I was saying, Dylan and Fox go way back."  
  
"Are you going to ignore me like that all the time."  
  
Teresa put the bowl she had in her hands down on the counter and folded her arms on her chest, staring into Ethan's eyes with defiance. Ethan stared back, not recognizing what he saw.  
  
"Why don't you go to Gwen, Ethan?"  
  
"Am I talking to you Whitney? I want to speak to Teresa alone."  
  
"No, you're not!"  
  
"It's alright, Whitney. I'll be alright."  
  
Whitney looked at Teresa and left the kitchen.  
  
*****  
  
Fox was in the pool holding little Ethan in his arms. The child was a little scared and was holding on the Fox's neck with his little hands tightly.  
  
"Now that's what I call a very touching picture."  
  
Fox looked up and frowned.  
  
"I got to say, Fox. When you said that you were planning on brining the little tyke over to the City of Angels, I didn't believe you."  
  
Fox concentrated his attention on his little brother. He walked towards the deep end of the pool and stopped when the water reached little Ethan's shoulder. The little boy was starting to relax a little.  
  
"And why not, Dylan?"  
  
"I don't know, something to do with how pissed you were the day you heard that your father had another son born by another woman. Maybe it has to do with the fact that your inheritance that is a wee bit smaller, say by at least a quarter. Not that you won't be able to survive or anything like that."  
  
"And your point been?"  
  
"You hated the child before you even laid eyes on him. What's the change of heart?"  
  
Fox remained silent and walked back to the shallow end. He put Ethan Martin on the edge of the pool, came out of the water and picked him up again. He took him to the lounge chair and put a towel over him and started drying him.  
  
Dylan was right, Fox had thrown a fit when he heard that his father had gotten Teresa pregnant. Her name had rang familiar in his ear and the didn't place her until he saw her at Ethan's wedding. The fact that his father had yet another Crane heir didn't sit well with Fox at all, but then he met Teresa and her son and he fell in love. Ethan Martin was a terrific little boy and he always seemed happy to see Fox arrive.  
  
He recalled how on his first night in Harmony, he had sat in the bed that Pilar had made him in the nursery and how he had watched his half brother sleep for hours, peacefully. He remembered how he had wished that he could go back to simpler times and sleep like a baby, but that was time was long gone. He was an adult and had all the problems adults had.  
  
"Things change, Dylan. This little guy is terrific and he is blood, my blood. I can never hate him or harbour ill feelings towards him. The fact that Teresa is his mother compensates for who his father is."  
  
"I see. He takes more on the Crane side than Teresa's side, that's for sure. I somehow doubt that blond babies run in her family."  
  
Quick footsteps were heard and Whitney showed up. Fox had a quick smile on his face and then disappeared as he saw the seriousness of her face.  
  
"What's wrong Whitney?"  
  
She stopped and went straight to him.  
  
"You have to go to Teresa."  
  
Fox felt a surge of panic come over him.  
  
"What? What happened?"  
  
"It's Ethan. We were making dinner and he came in the kitchen and insisted that he talks to Teresa."  
  
Fox shot a disappointed and angry look at Whitney.  
  
"Why would you leave her alone with him?"  
  
"You know how she is, she told me to go and I came to you. Fox she is doing better today, go see her."  
  
"I'm on my way, take care of the little guy."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"This is Dylan. He is the one who will be having dinner with us."  
  
Whitney nodded and smiled at Dylan as Fox walked back to the apartment.  
  
*****  
  
"What do you want Ethan?"  
  
"I wanted to apologize for my behaviour with you the other night."  
  
"Apology accepted, now go!"  
  
Ethan looked at Teresa and saw hostility in her eyes.  
  
"I thought maybe we could talk about what happened."  
  
Teresa had a sarcastic laugh as she shook her head.  
  
"There is nothing to talk about and you made it abundantly clear that night."  
  
"I won't deny that I don't have feelings for you."  
  
Fox stood under the kitchen's door and stared at Ethan's back.  
  
"Haven't you done enough damage, Ethan?"  
  
At the mention of his name, Ethan turned and stared his brother down. He despised him and Fox despised him equally. They both glared at each other, one feeling utter disgust for one and the other feeling jealousy rising in him as he watched the woman of his life walk to his half brother and taking his arm.  
  
"Ethan, if you don't leave this kitchen I will make you leave the apartment and I don't care that Gwen is pregnant. Then I will have you explain to her why I threw you out and how you kissed your ex-fiancée."  
  
"I came here to speak to Teresa."  
  
Fox smiled slightly as he looked at his brother. He wrapped an arm around Teresa's shoulders and she came closer to him to Ethan's dismay.  
  
"If I were you, half bro, I would watch my tone. You are walking on thin ice. If it cracks, you will fall."  
  
Ethan eyed his brother and Teresa with anger and chose to leave before things turned sour. Fox watched him go and heard the front door slam. The walls shook under the impact.  
  
"Are you alright, Teresa?"  
  
She simply nodded and sat down on one of the high chairs near the kitchen counter. Fox joined her and took her hand in his. He ran his thumb against the back of her hand."  
  
"Why is he doing this to me?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"He wants to hurt me, he is trying to destroy me. I'm not strong enough for this."  
  
Fox approached his stool from Teresa's and leaned close to her as he sat. he wiped the tears that were starting to slide from the corner of her eyes.  
  
"Yes you are, Teresa. You are a strong woman and the strongest person I know. And I believe that a woman who is as strong as you are can take on anything and make it out in one piece, especially if that woman has love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is almost indestructible. And you are one of the most loving people I ever met in my life."  
  
"I don't think I can do this alone."  
  
Fox took Teresa in his arms and held her. He kissed her on her hair and spoke.  
  
"Who said that you are alone, Teresa? You have me to help you through this and you me to lean on and if want to cry, my shoulder is here for you."  
  
Fox let go of their embrace and looked at Teresa's face. She was somewhat calmer and the tears had stopped. She gave Fox a weak smile.  
  
"That a girl, is this smile I see? I know you can do better than that."  
  
Teresa gave him a wider smile and then she started laughing as he tickled her. She got up from the stool and they both started running around the wide kitchen, pushing chairs and other things out of their way. They both stopped on either side of the counter and looked at each other.  
  
"You know that I love you, right?"  
  
Fox's smile grew wider as he looked intently into Teresa's eyes.  
  
"Of course I do. And you know that I love you, right?"  
  
Teresa's face lit up as she held the connection between them.  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
"How about you and I finish preparing dinner?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan. Thank you for coming to my rescue, Fox."  
  
"You never have to thank me for that, Teresa. I'll always be there for you whenever you need me."  
  
"I know I can always count on you."  
  
*****  
  
Dylan and Whitney stood outside the kitchen and looked in as Teresa and Fox bonded over the small and the big things.  
  
'Fox is such a fool', Dylan kept thinking. There was a lot more between his best friend and Teresa than Fox was willing to admit. He kept wondering how Fox could sleep next to a woman such as Teresa every night and not be tempted by her. Dylan knew that if Teresa was in his bed every night, he wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself. He then looked at Whitney who was smiling.  
  
"You know, Dylan.Fox and Teresa need each other more than they realize. They make each other happy, don't they?"  
  
Dylan looked at Fox and Teresa and smiled. The truth is he had never knows Fox to be this caring and if someone had told him, he wouldn't have believed it. Fox had changed, not only was he amazing to little Ethan down at the pool, but he showed more care, kindness and heart to Teresa than Dylan had ever thought possible.  
  
"Fox certainly has changed."  
  
Both Whitney and Dylan kept looking at Teresa and Fox who were oblivious to the world around them. 


	7. Part 7

Part VII  
  
They were all sitting around the dinner table, except and Gwen who had decided to go out to some fancy restaurant and as usual, Chad was putting up late hours at the recording studio.  
  
"What smells so delicious?"  
  
"It's just pasta, Dylan."  
  
Dylan looked at Teresa who was setting the table. He watched her as she took a seat next to her son and started feeding him apple sauce, and laughed when he saw little Ethan dip his fingers in his bowl and take them to Teresa's mouth and missing his target. Teresa laughed right along with him.  
  
"Thank you sweetheart, but the apple sauce is for you and only you."  
  
Teresa took a napkin to her cheek and wiped the little mess her son had made on her face.  
  
"Do you know how much I love you?"  
  
"The little boy giggles and then turned his attention to the people who were gathering around the table. He took the spoon from Teresa's hand and turned his attention to Fox. He looked at him hopefully.  
  
"No, Ethan. Fox has to eat too, so I will finish feeding you. Now, give Mama the spoon."  
  
"No, Teresa. Let me finish up with him."  
  
"Are you sure? You never fed a child before."  
  
"What's the worst that can happen? Maybe I'll make a bigger mess with the sauce than you have, but it can be cleaned up."  
  
Fox reached and took the spoon from little Ethan who giggled with happiness.  
  
"looks like he is taking a shine to you, Fox."  
  
Fox smiled as he looked at Teresa. He looked back at Little Ethan who was starting to fall asleep in his chair. He put down the spoon and cleaned the child up.  
  
"It's alright, Fox. I'll put him to bed."  
  
"Let me do it, please."  
  
"I guess."  
  
She watched as Fox walked down one of the corridors that led to their bedroom and smiled. She then got up and followed them.  
  
"Whitney, Dylan and you should get started with the food. I'll be back with Fox in just a second."  
  
"no, we'll wait for you."  
  
Both Dylan and Whitney looked on as Teresa disappeared in the hallway. They then looked at each other.  
  
"What do you this that was about?"  
  
"I don't know, Dylan. All I know is that little Ethan been here will help Teresa a lot."  
  
Dylan nodded his head and looked at the empty hallway. Teresa and Fox sure had a lot more going then either one of them was probably willing to admit.  
  
"And Teresa been around certainly makes life that much sweeter for Fox."  
  
*****  
  
Teresa walked in the bedroom without making any noise and stood behind Fox. She watched him as he tucked her son in for the night and she looked on as he put his favourite stuffed animal for the night close to him.  
  
"How did you know about the elephant?"  
  
Fox turned and faced Teresa with a smile on his face. He whispered back.  
  
"One night, it landed on the floor and he woke up screaming bloody murder. So now, I know."  
  
"Let's go back to the dinning room, dinner will get cold."  
  
They both walked there and sat down next to each other. Teresa looked at both Dylan and Whitney with a smile.  
  
"My little angel is sleeping."  
  
"It must be difficult to be a young mother."  
  
"At first yes. But not anymore. Every second that I spend with him is a little blessing. I almost lost him twice, and I don't know what I would do if anything happened to him."  
  
"You never have to find out, Teresa."  
  
Teresa looked at Whitney and smiled.  
  
"I have a huge support from my family and from my friends. I'm not alone in this."  
  
*****  
  
Fox sat by the pool with Dylan. They were sipping martinis.  
  
"There is something nagging me, Fox."  
  
"Should I ask what it is?"  
  
Dylan had a laugh and looked at his best friend.  
  
"No, you don't. but you know that I'll tell you anyway."  
  
Fox put his glass down and waited.  
  
"About Teresa and her son. You have everything you ever wanted with them. A family. Why not go for it?"  
  
"Because Teresa made it very clear to me many times that the only man she will ever love is Ethan."  
  
"But Ethan hurt her again and she doesn't seem to want anything to do with him."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"If I were you Fox, I would take everything and run with it. You two seemed extremely close during dinner, you love her son who loves you in return. She adores you and you adore her. You looked like a family tonight."  
  
"Forget it, Dylan. Teresa is hurting right now."  
  
"But she is fine when you are around her. I don't know her very well, but she seems at peace when you are with her and the same goes for you. You seem to forget about everything, including Whitney."  
  
Fox didn't say anything. Somewhere inside of him, he knew that Dylan was right. He knew how he felt, but he also know that pushing Teresa for something like that would only take her away from him and he didn't want to risk it.  
  
"It's Whitney I want Dylan."  
  
Dylan got up to leave.  
  
"Well then, Fox. Maybe I'll ask Teresa on a date. You described her very well earlier today. She is amazing and beyond. And she might just be the kind of woman I'm looking for to settle down for good."  
  
Fox looked at Dylan as he walked out of the Courtyard. He knew how serious his friend was about this. He knew that since Dylan had seen Teresa's picture in a society magazine. He always thought that she was hot, but now that he met her, Fox knew that Dylan liked her and that he was looking beyond the beauty of Teresa. He had seen the same things that Fox had seen in her. Compassion, love, care and so much more.  
  
"She'll never date you, Dylan. She is too good for you."  
  
He walked back to the apartment and made his way to his bedroom. Teresa was lying on her side already asleep. Oddly enough, her demeanour was different as she slept tonight. Unlike the other nights he had spent next to her, tonight, Teresa seemed to have a peaceful sleep and there was a smile on her face. Fox smiled at her as he got changed and slipped in bed next to her. He stared at the ceiling for a while until he felt his eyes starting to close slowly. He turned to Teresa and wrapped an arm around her waist. She turned and faced him. Her eyes opened a little, she looked at him and smiled and went into his arms. She laid her head under his chin and held him as well before she went back to sleep. Fox looked at her and closed his for the night. He would do whatever it took to keep Teresa away from Dylan and Ethan.. 


	8. Part 8

Part VIII  
  
"So how about it gorgeous Teresa? You and I, tonight for dinner."  
  
Teresa looked at Dylan and smiled at him. They had bumped into each other at a small coffee shop that was around the corner from the Courtyard and they decided to sit together while enjoying some iced cappuccinos on a very how and humid Los Angeles day.  
  
"Where is that beautiful son of yours?"  
  
"He is at the apartment with Chad and Whitney."  
  
"I see, and where is Mr. Crane?"  
  
Teresa looked at Dylan and scratched her head.  
  
"That's the weirdest thing, he left before I woke up this morning and it was almost 8 when I did. So I have no clue where he is, why he left or what he is up to."  
  
"Did he even come home last night?"  
  
Teresa nodded.  
  
"Yes, he did. He came back pretty early and we turned in at the same time.  
  
"Maybe he left when you fell asleep."  
  
"No, because he is the one who got up when my son started crying. And he is the one who put him back to sleep."  
  
Dylan was puzzled, not only was Fox sleeping in the same bed as Teresa, and wasn't taking full advantage of it, but he was also waking up in the middle of the night to take care of her son. He thought it was off behaviour even for Fox.  
  
"So what about dinner tonight? What's the harm in it?"  
  
Teresa looked up from her iced cappuccino into Dylan's eyes.  
  
"What's the harm in going out for dinner with you, tonight? I would love to."  
  
She shot a wide smile at him and Dylan felt his heart warm up. Teresa was definitely something else and Dylan understood better why Fox was so hesitant and confused about his feelings for her. Women like Teresa came along once in a lifetime and Dylan wasn't about to blow his chances with her.  
  
"Dress ultra chic!"  
  
He got up, and left but not before taking Teresa's hand in his and kissing it. Teresa felt surprised by his gesture.  
  
*****  
  
Teresa arrived at the apartment to find Fox sitting there in his sweat pants and a t-shirt. He looked up from the magazine he was leafing through and gave her a smile.  
  
"Well you certainly seem to be in good spirits today."  
  
"I am! Where have you been?"  
  
"Oh, went jogging by the beach and then went for a quick workout downstairs. And I have to take a shower."  
  
He got up and she stared at his back as he walked to the bathroom. She heard the door close behind him and the water running. She got up and went into the bedroom she shared with Fox. She started looking though her clothes. She took out some pieces and stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection.  
  
"I knew this was bound to happen sometime."  
  
Teresa turned and looked at Fox who was standing under the doorway wearing nothing but a smile and a towel around his waist. She stared back at her reflection.  
  
"What was bound to happen sometime?"  
  
"You going through your clothes like that, having them spread out on our bed and about to start staring at yourself in the mirror for the next few hours."  
  
Teresa stared at Fox's reflection in the mirror. He was going through his drawers looking for something to wear.  
  
"I was wondering if you would like to go out with me tonight for dinner. I would take you to the fanciest restaurant in this town."  
  
Teresa turned around and faced Fox. She saw his smiling face and felt bad that she was about to that smile away.  
  
"I saw Dylan this morning."  
  
She turned back to him and sat on the bed. He came and sat beside her, looking at her face while she diverted her eyes from him.  
  
"He asked me to go out with him for dinner tonight and I accepted. I'm sorry, if I had known that you would ask, I wouldn't have accepted to go with him tonight."  
  
And Fox felt disappointed that Teresa was going out with Dylan, and he felt mad that his best friend had asked her out when he had told specifically told him to stay away and felt upset that Teresa had accepted and he hated to think that she was going to be left alone with Dylan.  
  
"It's alright, Teresa. We can do it some other time."  
  
"I can call it a night early and then you and I can go for a walk down at the beach. We haven't done this in a while I missed it."  
  
He smiled at the idea.  
  
"Yes, I would love to go for a walk on the beach with you when you get back from the restaurant."  
  
"Great! I'll be looking forward to it. Now tell me, which outfit should I wear?" 


	9. Part 9

Part IX  
  
"You let her go out with Dylan? Have you lost what little mind you have?"  
  
Fox looked at Ethan who was angrier than he had ever seen him in the past. He stood in front of him with his hands resting on his hips. He was glaring at Fox and Fox was enjoying the moment. He would have wanted to be the one to stick it to Ethan, but Dylan would do the trick. Fox had to admit that he enjoyed watching Ethan right now.  
  
"I don't hold Teresa on a leach, Ethan. She is free to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants. She is an adult."  
  
"But she is with Dylan."  
  
"She can take care of herself, Ethan. You need to give her more credit."  
  
"What's the matter with you, Fox? You know what he is like, what he is capable of."  
  
"What did you want me to do, Ethan? Tie her to our bed? That's an idea, next time maybe when her and I are in the mood for something more."  
  
"Shut up, Fox! Shut up!"  
  
Fox laughed at the face Ethan made. He knew he had pushed the right buttons. Ethan was upset and jealous and the mere mention that Teresa slept in the same bed as Fox usually sent him flying off the handle. Fox enjoyed it, every second of it.  
  
"Besides, Teresa lived under the same roof as Gwen, Rebecca and Mother and if she survived them, she can survive Dylan."  
  
"I cannot believe how oblivious you are to this Fox."  
  
"I'm not oblivious to anything. Dylan happens to like Teresa, and I know that he won't do anything to her."  
  
"Dylan likes himself, just like you happen to like yourself. If anything happens to her I will hold you personally responsible."  
  
"Do you hold yourself responsible for the heartbreak you put her through. Ethan or is it justwhen other people do things that you hold them 'responsible'?"  
  
"Gwen is waiting for me, I have to go see her."  
  
"How is she doing?"  
  
"Well, it's touch and go with the baby. She might go into labour anytime."  
  
Fox had a sarcastic smile spread across his face.  
  
"And yet, here you are berating me about your old flame. I guess I know where your priorities lie, Ethan."  
  
"Whatever, Fox. You are nothing but a pest."  
  
"At least, I can't say that I'm married to a woman I don't love and still dreaming of the woman of my life."  
  
Ethan turned his heels and walked out of the door fuming. Fox was right, Ethan might have been married to Gwen, but the only woman in his heart, the only woman he loved was Teresa. It killed him that she was with Dylan, just like it killed him that she shared Fox's bed every night and just like it killed him to see that Fox, Teresa and little Ethan had bonded like a real little family. They were in his exclusive circle where no one else was admitted. They seemed to have a very strong family unit.  
  
Many times, Ethan caught himself thinking what it would be like if he hadn't abandoned Teresa in her time of need. He hated himself for letting her down and he hated the fact that he didn't trust enough in her to see past the mistakes that she had made. She was such an idealist and believer in true love that she was willing to go the distance for it and that was her downfall. In Ethan's eyes, Teresa had become tainted with her lies and she had deceived him once too many. But he still loved her and he still wanted her, but she seemed closer to Fox than she had ever been to him, her ex-fiancé. Fox and Teresa seemed to share everything.  
  
Many times, he had caught them holding hands or once at night, he had walked in their bedroom because of a noise he had heard and he had found Teresa sleeping with half of her body on top of Fox's and his arms around her holding her and they both had smiled on their faces that didn't seem to want to fade away. And Ethan had stood there for what seemed to be hours. He watched as the love of his life stirred in his half brother's arms and as she opened her eyes slowly and looked at the face next to her and how she simply kissed his cheek and repositioned her head on his shoulder and how her had ran the length of his chest before resting comfortably between his shoulder and his neck. He watched her as she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.  
  
He remembered all too well the feeling of jealousy and hate he had felt towards his brother at that moment and how he had wished he was the one resting beside Teresa.  
  
As Ethan marched himself in Gwen's hospital room, he couldn't help but resent her for having gotten pregnant. He knew he would love his child, but he also know that his life would be miserable without Teresa to share it with him.  
  
*****  
  
"Are you enjoying the evening, Teresa?"  
  
"Yes, I am. Thank you!"  
  
Dylan hadn't lied when he said to dress chic. This certainly was a high class restaurant and around her it was all glitter and glitz and she felt it was too much for a young woman who came from a small port of Maine. She was a simple woman and she didn't feel the need to be wowed and taken to a very expensive restaurant.  
  
"This is rather impressive!"  
  
"This is Los Angeles for you, glitz and glamour."  
  
They were having dessert and Dylan couldn't take his eyes from Teresa. His face had dropped when he saw her walk towards him. She was wearing a silky black dress, strapless. It was simple, but elegant and sexy at the same time. It was a ¾ length and the sandals were stilettos with a strap that went around her ankle. Her hair was gathered in a ponytail that a gave her a look of innocence. She was the most beautiful woman there tonight and she lit up the place with a simple smile.  
  
"So, beautiful Teresa..what would you like to do after dessert?"  
  
"I was thinking about heading back to the Courtyard."  
  
"This early?"  
  
Teresa felt bad. Dylan had been such a gentleman and he had been so sweet to her.  
  
"Well the babysitter cannot stay beyond 10:30 tonight, so I have to go home to my baby boy."  
  
"I see, let me get the tab and I will drive you home. Maybe we can sit and talk?"  
  
"I.not tonight, I have to get up early tomorrow. I'm supposed to go to the studio with Chad and Whitney."  
  
"Alright, Teresa. If you don't want to spend time with me, then you have to tell me. I life you a lot, but if it's Fox you want to be with, then I need to know."  
  
Teresa knew she was caught and she didn't dare look at Dylan. She knew she had hurt his feelings.  
  
"I knew you would rather be with Fox than me."  
  
She finally looked up.  
  
"I never meant to hurt you. The thing is Fox asked me for dinner tonight and since I couldn't I told him that I would make it up to him."  
  
"You are always with him, you even sleep in his bed."  
  
"And how does that bother you?"  
  
"It doesn't, I'm just saying."  
  
He knew he had crossed the line. He looked straight into Teresa's eyes and saw the anger starting to pierce through them. He paid the cheque and got up.  
  
"Let's go, let me drive you home."  
  
She nodded and they both walked out the restaurant and drove silently all the way to the Courtyard. Dylan pulled over and waited.  
  
"Except for what happened at the end, I did have a good time with you, Dylan and I am glad I got to know you better."  
  
"Are you sure about that?"  
  
"Of course I am. Have a good night, Dylan and thanks again."  
  
"You are welcome Teresa."  
  
She got out of the car and he saw that she was inside the building before he drove off.  
  
*****  
  
Teresa walked inside the building and came face to face with Fox.  
  
"So, how was it?"  
  
"It was alright, I guess. I wish it was you I was out with."  
  
Fox looked at Teresa and smiled.  
  
"And how was your evening?"  
  
"Uneventful and boring. I wish you were bored right along with me."  
  
She laughed at his remark.  
  
"What about that mystery woman of yours, how are things on that end?"  
  
"It's a dead end, besides I met someone who is just amazing and who takes my breath away. But it seems like I have a lot of competition."  
  
"Oh, I see, she must be pretty special then if she has more than one suitor."  
  
"She is beyond special, Teresa.she is in a class of her own. And she is everything that I want."  
  
Teresa couldn't help but feel a little disappointment as Fox opened the building's door for her and they both got out. It was a very warm night and they walked beside each other as they went down to the beach slowly.  
  
"I put little E to bed before I can down, the sitter is with him."  
  
"Thank you Fox. He really loves you, you know."  
  
"The feeling is mutual. He is terrific and such a little sweet boy. I cannot wait to play basketball with him someday."  
  
Teresa had a smile and looked at Fox who seemed preoccupied all of a sudden.  
  
"What is it, Fox? What's the matter?"  
  
"I've been debating whether I should tell you about this, but I think it's better that you know. Gwen was in labour and she had a c-section."  
  
They both sat in the sand. Teresa was still wearing the dress she had put on to go out with Dylan. however, the sandals were sitting beside her.  
  
"I see, how is she and the baby?"  
  
"From what I've been told, Gwen is doing well, but it doesn't look very well for the baby. If you want me to drive you to the hospital, then we can go back."  
  
"No, I don't want to go."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"You know, Fox, I realized something. Maybe the past is just an anchor holding us back, maybe you have to let go of what you are to become what you will be. I've let go of Ethan. He was my safety and what I knew, but someone else has given it to me and he doesn't hold me back. He lets me be who I am. Fox, I want to let go of the past so that I can have a future."  
  
He looked at her puzzled.  
  
"Someone else?"  
  
Fox's phone rang and he picked up as Teresa looked on. The conversation didn't last long, he hung up.  
  
"Ethan and Gwen's baby didn't make it."  
  
Teresa felt a huge lump form in her throat. She felt sad.  
  
"I almost lost my son when he was born and I agonized over it. I can't imagine what Gwen must be going through right now."  
  
"Neither can I."  
  
"Fox, why do people die?"  
  
They both stared at the ocean and Fox finally looked at Teresa.  
  
"To make life important and worthwhile I guess."  
  
"But why does an innocent baby who didn't have the chance at anything have to go like this?"  
  
"Maybe it's to remind us that there is a purpose for everything."  
  
"I see."  
  
She leaned her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her.  
  
"I never cared about anyone as much as I care about you, Teresa."  
  
"Neither have I. The times and the moments that I spend with you are always the best, Fox. You are special to me."  
  
"So are you, Teresa."  
  
They started into each others' eyes and lips brushed against each other in a small peck. Fox got up, took Teresa's hands in his pulling her with him. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on her lips and they smiled at each other.  
  
"What do you say we call it a night?"  
  
"I think we should head back."  
  
Teresa picked up her sandals and took Fox's hand. Their fingers intertwined as they both walked back to the Courtyard. From time to time, Teresa would look up at Fox or he would look down on her.  
  
At a distance, standing near his car, Dylan was watching them. He threw his cigarette to the ground in anger, got in his car and drove off. He didn't like what he saw at all. 


	10. Part 10

Part X  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"I think it's wonderful and magnificent."  
  
Fox and Teresa sat on the Courtyard's roof and watched the fireworks over Santa Monica Beach.  
  
"It reminds me of all the great times we used to spend on the roof of my house with my brothers and how never wanted me to follow them."  
  
"With a frail thing like you following three guys around and on a roof no less, I would have felt the same way."  
  
"I'm not frail, Fox. I'm a strong.."  
  
"..and wilful woman. And I have a lot of admiration for that, Teresa."  
  
"I guess you have to learn how to be resilient when bad things keep getting dished your way."  
  
"I think I know what you mean."  
  
Fox and Teresa had been talking for hours when they realized that the city had gone dark and that the fireworks had ceased. They both got up and went down to the apartment. Fox unlocked the door and they both walked in. They found the babysitter sitting on the couch watching television.  
  
"How was little Ethan tonight?"  
  
"He was a perfect little angel as usual. He has been asleep for the past 4 hours now."  
  
"Thank you, Molly!"  
  
Molly turned to Fox and looked at him with a smile.  
  
"You have a terrific son, Mr. Crane."  
  
"Isn't he? This is the money we owe you for tonight. Thank you for coming on such short notice."  
  
The babysitter nodded, took the money and left. Fox avoided Teresa's gaze as he went to the stereo and put a CD in it.  
  
"Your son?"  
  
Fox kept his back to Teresa.  
  
"I hope you're not mad at me for not negating it. I mean I don't really see the use of telling anyone who doesn't know that your son is my half brother by my pig of a father."  
  
Teresa went to Fox and put her hand on his shoulder, forcing him to face her. He turned around and looked at her. She was smiling.  
  
"I think it's sweet that you feel this close to him. And I don't think there's a better role model for him than you, Fox."  
  
"You mean you're not scared that I'm going to teach him how to be a womanizer or how to gamble and stumble back in his hotel suite so drunk that an entire day is blank for him?"  
  
"Oh, Fox.it's simple. If you teach him any of that stuff, you'll have to run to save your life. The wrath of a mother is worst than anything you can ever expect in your life. And I'll hurt you!"  
  
He laughed and so did she.  
  
"I have no doubt that you will hurt me."  
  
"I have to go check on 'our' son."  
  
He watched her as she walked out of the living room and he went back to the CD. He put some music on just as Teresa came back.  
  
"Music?"  
  
"I thought you and I can dance, we haven't danced together since the night at the Blue Note."  
  
"The night we almost burned to a crisp?"  
  
"That would be the night."  
  
He approached Teresa and reached his hand to her. She took and he pulled her in his arms. They started moving slowly as he held her close to him. They looked into each others' eyes and they both had a smile that kept growing wider and wider.  
  
Fox kept looking at Teresa, thinking that him and her had come a long way. Since day one, their friendship had blossomed into something magnificent and very difficult to describe. There were really no words to describe the time he spent with her.  
  
The music had stopped and both Teresa and Fox kept staring into each others' eyes. Every time Teresa looked into his eyes, she tried to search him to understand him. Fox had the reputation of a Crane and yet, he really wasn't one of them. Fox was amazing and different.  
  
If he concealed his ingenuity, he concealed his hurts too. He was regarded as thick-skinned and insensitive, even cruel. But Teresa knew better. A man who loved a child as much as Fox loved her son was a man of heart and a man who commanded respect.  
  
The front door opened and Gwen and Ethan made their way inside the apartment. Fox and Teresa both turned around holding each others' hand and looked at Ethan and Gwen.  
  
Gwen seemed tired and she looked like someone who had cried all the tears she had and understandably so. She had lost her child and she felt it and Teresa felt her pain and anguish and she let go of Fox's hand. She walked to Gwen who was standing there next to Ethan.  
  
"Gwen, I am so sorry for what you had to go."  
  
And nothing else came out of Teresa's mouth. Gwen's hand had risen and made contact with Teresa's cheek with so much violence that the noise of the slap had echoed inside the apartment. Teresa brought her hand to her cheek and rubbed it. She could feel the burning and the stinging.  
  
"What the hell is the matter with you, Gwen? Don't you dare raise your hand to her again."  
  
Gwen looked at Fox's angry face with a blank expression. He was standing beside his brother's ex-girlfriend, with a hand on her shoulder making sure that she was alright."  
  
"You bitch, don't you think I know what you've done?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Gwen. Look I know that you are in pain."  
  
"You know nothing, Teresa. Why couldn't you just leave us alone? Why couldn't you stay out of our lives. I know that you kissed Ethan."  
  
"That was a misunderstanding."  
  
"You think I'm going to believe that? You wanted Ethan? There he is, there is no baby holing him to me now, nothing keeping him married to me. Tell her what you told me, Ethan, tell her so this bitch will leave us alone once and for all."  
  
"That's enough out of you, Gwen. Sorry that your baby didn't make it, sorry that you're hurting, but you are wrong."  
  
"Leave her alone, Fox. Maybe one day she'll understand that I don't want to be mixed in her life anymore than she wants me to be."  
  
"You can't let her talk to you like that, Teresa."  
  
Teresa squeezed his hand that was still on her shoulder.  
  
"It's alright, don't worry about it."  
  
Cries were heard coming from the bedroom.  
  
"I have to go to my son."  
  
"At least, I saved your son's life Teresa. And you cost me my child's life."  
  
"I don't have to stand and listen. I'm going to my son, he needs me."  
  
Teresa left the living room and went to her crying son while Fox stood there glaring at Ethan.  
  
"I cannot believe how ruse you were."  
  
"Well do I look like I care? Because I don't. She deserves all of that and more."  
  
"Just think about it, Gwen. It takes two to tango and Teresa didn't instigate that little incident."  
  
"Oh, please.you don't know what that bitch is capable of. She acted like my best friend to take Ethan away from me. She came between us so often and now she is the reason I lost my child."  
  
"How so, Gwen? Tell me. She stayed away from you, she didn't talk to you or approach you or go anywhere near him."  
  
Teresa came back in the living room.  
  
"Fox, you're the one he wants."  
  
Fox gave one last look at Gwen and Ethan.  
  
"I am truly sorry for what you're going through, Gwen. Honestly. And Teresa had nothing to do with this. I understand that you have to take your anger out on someone, but she doesn't deserve it."  
  
"You don't know her like I do."  
  
"You're right, I know her better than you do, Gwen. I know her better than anyone."  
  
He went to Teresa and took little Ethan from her who calmed down instantly. Teresa took Fox's arm and they both walked to their bedroom.  
  
Gwen turned to Ethan and followed his gaze. He was staring at Teresa and once again, Gwen felt let down by her husband.  
  
"How could you, Ethan?"  
  
"Could what?"  
  
"Our baby died and all you're doing is stare at Teresa."  
  
"I wasn't."  
  
Gwen shook her head and went to the bedroom she shared with Ethan. She laid down on the wide bed and closed her eyes. She never thought she can suffer that much over losing her baby, but she was. She was now realizing how much of a mistake it was to try and hold on to Ethan. She might have loved him, but he too had cost her the life of her baby.  
  
*****  
  
Fox put little Ethan to bed as Teresa got out of her street clothes a negligee. She went up to Fox and looked inside the crib at her sleeping son.  
  
"Thank you for backing me up tonight, Fox."  
  
"I told you, Teresa.you can always count on me."  
  
"I know."  
  
She hugged him, then crawled into bed. He soon followed her and tuned towards her to face her. She didn't look too well.  
  
"Come here."  
  
Teresa went in his arms and they both laid down for a few minutes without saying a word.  
  
"Want to tell me what's going on in that head of yours?"  
  
"What if Gwen was right, what if I caused her to lose her baby?"  
  
"I don't think it's true at all. She was just looking for a scapegoat and she has you to blame for all her problems."  
  
Teresa nodded her head and looked and looked up at Fox.  
  
"You always have a way to make me feel better about everything, Nicholas."  
  
She sat up and he did the same.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I heard a noise outside our door."  
  
Fox put his finger on his mouth and signalled Teresa to remain silent. He got up and opened the door. Ethan was standing outside.  
  
"What do you think you're doing? Are you eavesdropping?"  
  
It was Teresa's turn to get out of bed and make her way to the door. She stood in as close as possible to Fox and looked at Ethan.  
  
"Why aren't you with Gwen?"  
  
Ethan looked at Teresa.  
  
"And why are you doing this?"  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
Again he looked at Teresa with desperation.  
  
"Let's go back to bed, Fox."  
  
"With pleasure."  
  
He ran his hand on her neck and he felt her shiver and Ethan had seen it.  
  
"Go to your wife, Ethan. She needs you."  
  
Fox went back in the room as Teresa closed the door on Ethan's face. She crawled back in and repositioned herself the way she was before.  
  
"Kiss me good night?" 


	11. Part 11

Part XI  
  
"What are you intentions towards Teresa?"  
  
Fox looked up and down. He concentrated on what was on his plate.  
  
"It's a fair question, maybe you should answer it."  
  
Again, Fox looked up and looked back down as Dylan sighed with exasperation.  
  
"Look, you and I used to talk about everything, we were and are still best friends to the best of my knowledge."  
  
"I don't know what my intentions are towards her."  
  
"Please! If you don't want to answer the question, all you have to do is tell me."  
  
"Well then, since you know what I think of your question, how about you stop asking it."  
  
"Look Fox.I know how close you and her are and I would like to know how you feel about her because I really like her."  
  
"And I told you, Dylan. You need to stay away from her."  
  
This time, it was Dylan's turn to look up an then look back down.  
  
"She is out of your league, Dylan."  
  
"Why? Because my wallet is not as big as your wallet? You and I are one and the same Fox. We do the same things, we think the same way. The only difference is that I have to work for what I want I have and you don't."  
  
"Is that resentment I hear in your voice?"  
  
"What I don't understand is how you can sleep in the same bed as her and not go out of your mind. What's up with that, Fox? You are not one to keep your hands for yourself."  
  
"Look, Dylan."  
  
"No, you look Fox. If you're going to pull that Whitney stuff again, just don't."  
  
Fox didn't say anything. He pushed the food around in his plate and contemplated it.  
  
"Do you want desert?"  
  
Dylan shook his head.  
  
"Well then, it's your turn to pay."  
  
"This conversation is not through, Fox."  
  
The tab was paid and they both left the terrasse of the restaurant they were at. They walked to Fox's car and got in.  
  
"Why don't you just admit how you feel?"  
  
"Fine, Dylan. You want to know how I feel about her?"  
  
"Where have you been, Fox? I've been asking the same question for the past two hours."  
  
"The truth is, I don't know how I feel about her. I know that I feel something, but I find everything so confusing. I know that she still has it bad for Ethan, and I know that if he were to leave his wife tomorrow, then Teresa would be back in his arms before he even finished asking her."  
  
"Are you sure about this?"  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
"But doesn't she share your bed every night? Doesn't she fall asleep in your arms and stay there until the morning?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Maybe? You are full of it Fox. So full of it and you don't know a good thing when it hits you in the face. Do you know what I think?"  
  
"No, but you'll say it anyway.so why don't you save the pointless questions and just get to the point?"  
  
"I don't think Teresa will go back to Ethan. I think that she likes you. But then again, maybe you are as dense as Ethan and you are willing to let the best thing in your life pass you by."  
  
"And how do you know that? Psychic powers?"  
  
"No, let's just say that I'm a good observer. Remember when I took her out to dinner?"  
  
"How can I forget?"  
  
"Well, she was sitting with me and the only thing she could think of was how she was going out with you after dinner."  
  
"Doesn't mean anything."  
  
"Well then if it doesn't mean anything to you, then I will ask her on another date. Like I said, I like her and I see myself end up with her. This is not a woman I want to toy with. This is a woman I want to love and spoil and be happy with."  
  
Fox didn't say anything. He drove silently until they had reached Dylan's beach house.  
  
"Want to come in for a drink?"  
  
"No, I have to get back to my place."  
  
"I'll see you the next time I pick up Teresa for a date."  
  
He slammed the car door and walked inside his home as Fox watched and drove off to the Courtyard.  
  
*****  
  
"How many great loves can one get in a life?"  
  
Whitney looked at Teresa wondering why she would ask the question.  
  
"Why do you ask?"  
  
"I don't know, I guess I've been wondering a lot about it."  
  
"I guess if you have one great love in your life, then you are lucky."  
  
"I see."  
  
Whitney sat beside Teresa and looked at her, trying to read her.  
  
"You wouldn't ask this question unless you had something on your mind, Teresa."  
  
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't."  
  
"Look, let me know when you stopped talking in riddles, Teresa. I'm going to bed."  
  
*****  
  
Fox walked in the bedroom and got undressed. He made his way to the bed and to his surprise it was empty. He put a shirt on and went to the living room where he sat down. He got up a few times and paced around the room.at last he heard a key in the door and saw it open. Teresa walked in and closed the door slowly behind her. She put the keys on the table and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Fox sitting under the dimmed light.  
  
"Why aren't you sleeping?"  
  
"Why aren't you?"  
  
"I had a lot on my mind, so I went out on the roof to clear my head."  
  
"Do you need to talk about it?"  
  
She laid her head on his lap and stared at the ceiling.  
  
"It's just stupid stuff."  
  
"You know I like stupid."  
  
"What happens when everything you ever believed in becomes this lie?"  
  
He didn't say anything. He know exactly where she was going with that. He looked down at her face and saw that she was looking into his.  
  
"Well, Teresa.when things become a lie, you just have to pick up your life and start over."  
  
She sat up next to him and brought her legs under her.  
  
"What's wrong Teresa?"  
  
"I'm just feeling confused about everything. What I want I can't have and whom I want is taken. Maybe love is not what I thought is was."  
  
She kissed him on the cheek and got up.  
  
"Good night, Fox."  
  
"Good night, Teresa."  
  
He sat there for a while after she had left. He knew that she was talking about Ethan.  
  
"Dylan was wrong, Teresa isn't over Ethan and she never will be."  
  
*****  
  
Teresa walked in the bedroom and got changed for the night. She crawled in the bed and waited for Fox to join her but he wasn't coming. She had hoped that he understood that she was talking about him and that he understood that she had feelings for him and that she was trying to sort everything out. She looked at the time and wondered why he was taking so long to come to bed. She left the bed and walked in the living room. She saw the door of the balcony open and went outside.  
  
She found him standing there, staring at the Los Angeles skyline.  
  
"L.A is beautiful in the dark. It looks like one of those postcards they sell downstairs at the drugstore."  
  
He turned around and looked at Teresa.  
  
"About love, maybe it isn't an emotion or a feeling. Maybe love is just a fact, maybe it's just a truth."  
  
Teresa looked into Fox's face, into his eyes searching them, but they didn't give anything away.  
  
"Why haven't you come to bed?"  
  
"Because I didn't feel like sleeping."  
  
He turned his back to her and stared at the city again. She came and stood beside him.  
  
"Do you know how wonderful you are, Fox?"  
  
He didn't answer her but looked at her, he then cleared his voice.  
  
"Is it really worth it to be wonderful when you can't have what you want?"  
  
He moved away from her towards the door.  
  
"You mean your mystery woman?"  
  
"Something like that.good night, Teresa."  
  
She looked at him as he made his way back inside. Fox disturbed her in so many ways. He disturbed her sometimes with anger, sometimes with pain and sometimes with curiosity. He was this perpetual contest to her. Tonight, she had wanted desperately to be close to him. She wanted to understand and know everything about him, but he had become distant and she couldn't understand why.  
  
"Maybe the trueness and the greatness of love can be understood only by time."  
  
She took a seat and looked in the city. Fox was right, it looked like a postcard and it was beautiful. She closed her eyes and whispered.  
  
"I miss you when I sleep, then I find you in my dreams."  
  
She would be spending the night out in the balcony tonight. She was feeling too desperate for Fox to want to share his bed tonight. 


	12. Part 12

Part XII  
  
Teresa stood for a while in the warm sand with a smile on her face. She watched at Dylan hit the waves a few times on his surf board before he decided that he had had enough. He ran out of the water and went to Teresa.  
  
"Maybe you should hit the waves with me some day."  
  
"Maybe I'll just stay on the shore and watch you."  
  
"You're no fun, Teresa."  
  
"Well, I have a son, let's not make an orphan of him."  
  
They both sat in the warm sand and didn't say anything. Every once in a while, Teresa would glance towards him and Dylan would do that same.  
  
"Dylan, you and I haven't knows each other for very long. But you are Fox's best friend and I want to know that you and I are okay."  
  
"I see, so you want to make sure that everything is alright between us because you are worried that it might hurt Fox's feelings?"  
  
"No, I want you and I to be okay too. I think you're a terrific person, Dylan."  
  
"Is that why you felt the need to lie when we were at the restaurant?"  
  
Teresa looked down and didn't say anything.  
  
"Look, I'm attracted to you, but I would like to know where you stand, Teresa."  
  
"Where I stand?"  
  
"Yes, Teresa. Where do you stand?"  
  
"I don't know. I got to go."  
  
She got up and walked away from Dylan. He looked at her for a few seconds, startled by her reaction then got on his feet.  
  
"Fox was right, you'll never get over Ethan."  
  
Teresa stopped in her tracks. She didn't turn around to face him, she didn't want to. She didn't move. She was frozen. Ethan.Ethan. The man who had been her life for so long. The person she had built everything around since she was a child, the man she wanted to be hers above anything else. The man who had made her heart beat so fast, the man she had given everything for and gave up everything to.  
  
Ethan, the man who had betrayed her and left her broken, shattered beyond repair. The man who had hurt her beyond what words could describe.  
  
"I walked the green mile for him. I threw myself down an elevator shaft to save his life. I went down to Bermuda to try and fix everything that I had done, I tried to get him back into the Crane family, you know. Julian that night, he got me drunk and knocked me up."  
  
Dylan was by her side, standing in front of her, facing her, looking into her torn up face as her memories came back to her so vividly he could feel them. He saw her pain, he saw her sorrow.  
  
"I thought that he wouldn't care who the father of my child was, but he did. I thought that he would always be there for me, but he wasn't. I confessed to a murder I didn't commit to save his life and I risked my life and my son's life for him. I was so foolish to think that he loved me the way I loved him. His love was so selfish and I'm the only one who fought for us."  
  
Tears were now running down her cheeks. Her heart was breaking all over again.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Teresa. I didn't mean for you to go over this again."  
  
"Did you know he made love to Gwen the night of my execution, right after I was pronounced dead?"  
  
Dylan shook his head.  
  
"That should have told me how little he cared, but I kept going after him over and over and over. Gwen blames me for her baby dying, but I didn't really do anything. He came into my room and he crawled in my bed and we kissed and I didn't mean to, but it happened."  
  
"Teresa, you don't have to tell me all of this."  
  
"But I do. You need to understand. It's hard for me to move on. Ethan is the only thing I ever knew in my life. I spent my life in a lie, in a dream and I want to get out of it. I want to feel what it is to be really loved. I want to know what it is not to have to fit in someone's ideal."  
  
"Someone's ideal?"  
  
"He wanted me to be someone I wasn't. He wanted me to be this perfect person which I am not. Dylan, I make mistakes, I can't help it."  
  
"You and everyone else, Teresa. You are human."  
  
"He didn't want me to be human."  
  
"Then he didn't deserve you."  
  
"Ethan was my habit. He is what I know.  
  
"And he is also the biggest lie of your life."  
  
"I know. I'm trying to come to terms with this."  
  
"It takes time, but you'll get through it. You just have to let go."  
  
"Let go? I want to, but the past always seems to be pulling me where I don't want to go. I know that I don't love Ethan anymore.no, wait. I don't know if I ever loved Ethan. I don't know if I ever knew what love was and how to love and how to be loved. I feel like all my life, I've been waiting for this Cinderella fairy tale to happen to me and it never really has."  
  
Teresa sat down as did Dylan. She leaned her head on Dylan and cried.  
  
"There are people who care about you and who are there for you."  
  
"I know."  
  
"How do you feel about Fox?"  
  
"I can't discuss this with you, Dylan. I'm sorry."  
  
She got up and this time, he didn't say anything. He just watched her walk away and he knew that he didn't stand a chance with her, but he also knew that Teresa would have her heart broken again when she found out that Fox came to Los Angeles to be close to Whitney.  
  
"You won't be so quick to go back to Fox when you learn that it's Whitney he wants."  
  
Once again, he wondered how Fox could be so oblivious to Teresa. He was more dense than he had ever known him to be. 


	13. Part 13

Part XIII  
  
Both Whitney and Teresa sat by the pool with their drinks. It had been days since they had the chance to talk, or spend any time together. Whitney was busy with Chad and Chad was busy at the recording studio where Whitney spent most of her days and nights.  
  
"So, what's going on with you, Teresa?"  
  
"Nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary. I miss spending time with you."  
  
"Me too, but you have Fox around to keep you company. What's going on between the two of you anyway?"  
  
"Nothing. He is in love with someone else, remember?"  
  
"That maybe so, but you're the one he is spending all his time with. That should account for something to you, Teresa."  
  
"It can't."  
  
Whitney looked at Teresa and saw the look on her face that she recognized all too well.  
  
"Are you in love with him, Teresa?"  
  
Teresa didn't say anything. She took her drink to her lips and sipped it slowly.  
  
"Teresa, you know you can tell me. I won't tell."  
  
"I don't if I love him, Whitney. One thing I know is that everything is becoming so comfortable with him, it scares me."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Teresa turned her head towards Whitney and looked at her in the eyes.  
  
"I guess I'm scared of loving him Whitney. I mean, I know that I feel something for him, a very deep connection, but I don't think I'll let myself fall in love with him completely."  
  
"Why not, Teresa. He makes you so happy."  
  
"And what happens to me the day he finally has that woman he is pinning for? What then, Whitney? I'll be let down again. I will have lost another man that I love to another woman. I can't have my heart broken again Whitney. I don't think I'll be able to survive it this time."  
  
"Aren't you been a bit melodramatic."  
  
"You've never had your heart broken like mine was Whitney. I don't know what would have happened to me if I didn't have Fox. He saved me."  
  
Whitney looked at Teresa and then looked away from her. She knew that Teresa was right about a lot of things but then, she also knew that Teresa always said half truths.  
  
"Are you still hoping that Ethan will come back to you, Teresa?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are you still in love with him?"  
  
Teresa didn't answer. Instead she put her drink down and got up.  
  
"I have to check on little Ethan."  
  
She made her way to stair case and disappeared from Whitney's eye sight.  
  
"Oh, Teresa. I wish you could forget Ethan existed."  
  
*****  
  
Teresa sat on a bench at the park near the apartment. She looked at the empty swing and walked towards it. She sat down and pushed herself slowly at first, then she started to soar higher and higher by the second. She felt a like she could touch the moon that was looking down on her. A smile spread across her face, the smile of the child that had been lost in her so long ago. She slowed down and her feet hit the grass. The swing came to a full halt and she sat there, lost in her thoughts.  
  
"I always thought that the day light didn't do justice to your beauty as the moonlight did."  
  
Her head whipped and she saw Ethan standing behind her, his hands in his pockets, looking at her. His eyes burned her. She turned her attention back to the her thoughts. He came and sat in the swing that was beside her.  
  
"I thought I would find you here."  
  
"Did you want to speak to me?"  
  
She looked at him and he looked at her.  
  
"Yes, I did. I miss you a lot, Teresa."  
  
"Give me a push, please?"  
  
He got up and giving small pushes and Teresa started soaring again and she enjoyed it.  
  
"Higher, Ethan. Higher. Send me to the moon, far away from everyone and everything. Far away from all my problems and all my heartaches. Send me far away from everything that hurts."  
  
Ethan stopped the swing and faced Teresa.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
She pushed him and got up. She took a few steps away from him, then turned and looked at him.  
  
"I want to be free Ethan. I want to have everything. I want to love and be loved. I want to start a new life for my son and myself, I want to move on. I want to give my son the life he deserves, I want to give him a father."  
  
"He already has a father, Teresa."  
  
"Julian? Did you see what he did to Fox? Did you see the way he treated him? Look at how much he hurt his own son. It's a wonder Fox is normal at all. I'll be damned if I let him do the same thing to my son. I'll be damned if I let him take my baby away from me."  
  
"So you want to give Little Ethan a father."  
  
"Yes, I do. He deserves that much."  
  
"A father like Fox?"  
  
She didn't say anything. She crossed her arms on her chest and looked at him, biting her lower lip.  
  
"Don't think I don't see what's going on between you and Fox. He will hurt you, Teresa. He is nothing but a train wreck waiting to happen and he will take you down right along with him if you're not careful."  
  
"Don't patronize me, don't ever speak about Fox the way you are right now. You don't know him the way I do."  
  
"Did it occur to you that maybe I know him better than you do?"  
  
Teresa had a sarcastic laughter.  
  
"Oh, please! Fox is an amazing man. He has always been there for me and never asked for anything in return."  
  
"Why are you defending him like that?"  
  
"Because I care about him and because no one ever defends him."  
  
Ethan stared at Teresa. She had changed. She was no longer the woman he had known. But he still loved her.  
  
"Teresa, you are playing with fire."  
  
"What the hell are you doing here anyway? Why aren't you with your wife?"  
  
He didn't answer.  
  
"Ethan, I really want to move on with my life. Give me my heart back, Ethan. I don't want the small fragments of it that I have right now. I want all of it back, Ethan. Give me my heart back so that I can be free to love again with everything that I have. I want my heart back so that I can feel complete again. Please Ethan, I've never asked you for anything. Please, give me back what you took."  
  
And she cried because she felt hopeless in front of him, and she cried because she wanted to be released from him and she cried because the man she wanted standing in front of her was Fox and not Ethan and she finally understood that maybe Ethan wasn't the right man for her, but Fox was. Hadn't he always been there for her? Hadn't he always been the one she ran to? Hadn't he been what she hopes Ethan would be?  
  
"I can't release you, Teresa because you're the one I love and I can't risk losing you to another man."  
  
"Then, I was wrong about you, Ethan. Maybe you weren't the man I thought you were."  
  
She went to him and hugged him. He kept her in his arms for a few minutes, inhaling her, remembering how she felt in his arms and how he never wanted to let her go in the first place. She was the woman of his life after all, she was what he always wanted. He felt her lips brush lightly against his cheek and then her hands pushing his arms down and away from her.  
  
"Good bye, Ethan."  
  
He looked at her as she walked away from him.  
  
*****  
  
Gwen had witnessed all of it as she stood behind a grow tree in the park. It was the first time she was out since she had come back from the hospital. She had stood in the park and watched Ethan with Teresa. She had always known that Ethan was in love with Teresa, but this time..she had moved from the tree into an open space when Teresa had left. She stood in front of Ethan who was sitting on the swing Teresa had sat on previously. He had looked up and looked at her, but Gwen knew he had looked right through her when he looked back down. She knew he was thinking of her, she knew that Teresa was on his mind. The love of his life.  
  
She turned her heels and went back to the apartment. No way was she going to allow him to go after Teresa. She wouldn't give him the chance to that, she was not going to release him from their marriage. 


	14. Part 14

Part XIV  
  
"What did you want to see me about?"  
  
"Well I'm leaving for Europe for I don't know how long, and I thought that I would see you in person rather than call you on the phone."  
  
Both Fox and Dylan sat at the bar and ordered a couple of drinks.  
  
"Why are you headed back there?"  
  
"Business for Father. I gave him so much grief over the years, that it's only normal that try to give something back!"  
  
"Yeah, how noble of you. What's the real reason you wanted to see me? I know you, Dylan. you're not the mushy type. You never call to say where you're going, you just go. So what's up? And the truth will be nice for a change."  
  
Dylan had a laugh. He looked at Fox for a moment and then looked back down at the bar.  
  
"You know me, I do have an ulterior motive for wanting to see you."  
  
"Well then stop beating around the bush and tell me what it is."  
  
"Teresa."  
  
Fox was startled for a second, then regained his composure. He looked at Dylan and waited.  
  
"What about her, Dylan? I haven't gotten hours for this."  
  
"You know that I like her, right?"  
  
"You hardly made it a secret. I know you like her and I know you want to pursue her and I know all that stuff already, so unless we're here so that I can learn something new, you're wasting your breath, Dylan."  
  
"Oh, well.aren't we getting all mean about the situation? This is for your own good Fox. You and I go way back, and I wouldn't be a true friend if I didn't say it the way it is."  
  
"Say what?"  
  
"That you either make the play for Teresa or you lose her. And if you want Teresa, then you have to put those feelings for Whitney to rest and make sure that no one finds out about her, especially Teresa. It will devastate her if she does and it will cost you your one real chance at been happy in life."  
  
"I can be happy with Whitney as well."  
  
Dylan signalled the bartender for a refill and took his glass to his lips.  
  
"No you can't be happy with Whitney the way you cane be with Teresa. How blind are you?"  
  
"Look, Dylan."  
  
"No, Fox, you look. I don't understand what your sudden interest for Whitney is. You want to sleep with her? Fine, get it out of your system, but do not lose Teresa over this. Don't you see? Since you got back to Harmony, the only woman on your mind was her. Before you even set foot back in the mansion, the only woman on your mind was her. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, your feelings for her run much deeper, much, much deeper, Fox. And that is something that you have to explore."  
  
"What if I don't?"  
  
"Then you lose, Fox. Eventually, Ethan will divorce Gwen. There is nothing holding him to her anymore, and the second it happens, he will go after Teresa and he will try to win her back."  
  
"Ethan will never leave Gwen, Dylan."  
  
"You want to bet on it? Because Fox, you will. You will lose the most important person in your life. You will be miserable if you let her go."  
  
"And why are you telling me all of this? If I go after Teresa then you and I will be in direct competition."  
  
Dylan looked at Fox who was staring at him suspiciously.  
  
"No, we won't because I don't stand a chance against you. You're the one she wants and how dense you are that you don't even see it."  
  
Dylan got up and left a few bills on the bar.  
  
"Look, Fox. As your best friend, I want you to do me this favour and consider it. Teresa is a terrific person. She is everything you ever wanted in a woman and now that you found that, don't let her go. You hold on to her with everything that you have. She is worth it, Fox. Trust me."  
  
He got up and left Fox behind him.  
  
"I was never in love with Whitney. I like her, but I don't love her. I can't afford to lose what I have with Teresa. She is too important to me to jeopardize everything that we built together."  
  
Fox got up and left the bar. He walked slowly to his car and drove off. He took the long way around Los Angeles before arriving at the Courtyard. He stopped the car and walked in the building. He made his way to the apartment and just as he was putting the key in the lock, he heard someone screaming 'No' behind the door. He recognized Teresa's voice and felt panic come over him. 


	15. Part 15

Part XV  
  
Teresa and Whitney were sitting in the living room, talking about everything and nothing when they heard a key turn in the front door lock. They both looked up and waited.  
  
"It's either Fox, Ethan or Chad."  
  
"I doubt it's Chad, he has that photo shoot to attend and Ethan just left."  
  
Teresa smiled at Whitney and waited for the door to open. Soon, her smile vanished as she sprung from her seat and looked at Whitney with worry as three men walked in the apartment.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Is this anyway to speak to your ex-fake husband Teresa, dear?"  
  
She didn't answer him instead, Whitney did.  
  
"If you're here to see Fox, he's out but he'll be back soon."  
  
"You're right Whitney. I'm here for my son, but not that one. I'm here for our son, Teresa."  
  
"No."  
  
"No? There's nothing you can do about this, Teresa. You missed the custody hearing, I have custody of him until the next hearing is scheduled."  
  
"What? What are you talking about? You pulled this stunt knowing that I was going to be in Los Angeles."  
  
Julian looked at Teresa with a smirk on his face.  
  
"No, Teresa. I had the lawyers send you the paper work. What you did is nothing short of kidnapping. You didn't show up, you kept my child away from me."  
  
"You said that I was free to go wherever I wanted to with him. You said that it wasn't a trick."  
  
Teresa was shaking. She felt sick as she looked at Julian.  
  
"I did not receive any papers. I would have been at the hearing if I knew it was going to take place. I didn't kidnap him."  
  
"Well, Teresa.you snooze, you lose and I'm not leaving here without my son."  
  
"I will never let you anywhere near him. You'll have to go through me first."  
  
"Well that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Where is he?"  
  
Teresa stood in front of Julian defiantly. He looked at her with a certain admiration then shrugged it off.  
  
"We can do this the easy way, where you hand him over, or the hard way where I have to tear this entire place to put my hands on him. Which way is it going to be?"  
  
"Teresa, honey, do as he says. You'll still have the chance to get little Ethan back. Please."  
  
"No, Whitney. If he takes him away, I'll never see him again."  
  
"I would listen to your friend if I were you Teresa."  
  
"Go to Hell Julian. You are not coming anywhere near my son."  
  
"MY son, Teresa. He is my son too and I will take him right now."  
  
"NO."  
  
"You see these two men I have with me? I knew you would give me trouble. One of them is to handle you, while the other one searches for my son."  
  
Julian turned to his men and gave them his signal. One of them went towards Teresa and held her as the other one went towards the bedrooms.  
  
"Let go of me. I said let go of me. Julian, he is sleeping, he'll be scared and frightened."  
  
"He'll get over it."  
  
"NOO!"  
  
At that moment, the door opened again and Fox made his way in. He looked at the people in the living room astonished to see his father in the middle of the living room. His gaze then fell on Teresa.  
  
"Teresa! Let go of her."  
  
He walked toward her as the man loosened his grip on Teresa. She shook him off and ran to the bedroom as the other man was coming out with little Ethan crying.  
  
"Give me my son."  
  
"No, I work for Mr. Crane, not you."  
  
"I said give me my son."  
  
"No."  
  
The man pushed Teresa out of his way with one hand and walked back in the living room and handed the child to Julian.  
  
"No, you can't take him, please. He is my son."  
  
"Father, you cannot be doing this, please, don't take him away from her."  
  
"Fox, stay out of this. I have every right to take him, he is my son. Besides if she had appeared at the hearing like she was supposed to, we might be avoiding this right now."  
  
"What are you talking about, Father?"  
  
"My lawyers sent her the papers for the custody hearing and she was a no show, that means I get to have my son by default."  
  
Fox looked at Teresa who was crying in Whitney's arms, just like her son was crying in Julian's arms.  
  
"Father, please reconsider this. You are ripping him away from the only thing he has ever known."  
  
"I said stay out of this, Fox."  
  
"I can't stay out of this, Father."  
  
"Look, I know you've been playing house, but the bottom line is that he is my son, not yours and you would do yourself well and a huge favour to remember that, Fox."  
  
Julian turned his heels and walked out of the apartment with his men behind him. Teresa flew out of Whitney's arms and started following them, but was stopped by Fox.  
  
"Teresa, don't."  
  
"Then do something, Fox.please. You can't let him take my baby away from me. You always came through for me. You were always there for me. Fox please, don't let them take my son away, please, please."  
  
Fox felt bad and hurt, he knew what Teresa was going through because he was going through the same thing. The angst, the sadness, the hurt, the anger, the hatred towards his own father, he felt it all. He also felt that a part of him had gone with little Ethan. He had grown attached to him and accustomed to putting him to bed at night, or reading him stories and now, he wouldn't do it. Instead, some governess or nanny that his father hired would do that.  
  
"Look, Teresa, you know I would do anything to help you. And when I say anything, I mean it. But you have to calm down and you have to pull yourself together for your sake and his."  
  
"I can't live without him, Fox."  
  
"I know, neither can I."  
  
Whitney looked at Fox and his demeanour and couldn't help but feel that if anyone could help Teresa get her son back, it would be Fox. He was willing to sacrifice everything for her and at that moment, she recognized the look in his eyes. It was determination and love. She knew he would stop at nothing.  
  
*****  
  
Gwen laid down on her bed and listened to the commotion outside. A smile crossed her lips and she closed her eyes with satisfaction. She tossed around and pulled something from underneath the mattress. She held the papers that Julian's lawyers had sent Teresa about the custody hearing. She started ripping them into tiny and tiny pieces.  
  
"What goes around comes around Teresa. I lost my baby, and now it's your turn to lose yours." 


	16. Part 16

Part XVI  
  
"Don't be long Teresa, we have to catch the plane for Harmony in less than 4 hours and the traffic is going to be horrendous between here and the airport."  
  
"You never took a commercial flight, have you?"  
  
"No, not really. But it's not like we're sitting in coach or anything like that."  
  
"God forbid we sit with the common folks, right?"  
  
Fox looked at Teresa with a half smile.  
  
"Just trying to make our trip back home as comfortable as possible."  
  
"I know that Fox. I'm just pushing your buttons."  
  
He watched her as she opened the front door and made her way out of the apartment. He spoke just as she was about to close the door.  
  
"Don't be long Teresa."  
  
"Just going to the bank around the corner."  
  
She closed the door behind her and Fox went to his bedroom to pick up the remainder of his cloths. He scanned the room quickly before he picked up his suitcase and Teresa's and took them out. He made his was in the living room where he left the luggage near the door and sat on the couch across from Whitney who was watching television.  
  
He looked at her and felt awkward been in the same room as her. She looked up and gave him a smile. He forced a smile on his lips and hoped that it didn't look fake.  
  
"Thank you for letting me and Chad stay here especially since you're going back to Harmony with Teresa."  
  
"Well, no sweat. You guys can save some money before you can find your own place to live and you have Ethan and Gwen to keep you company."  
  
"Well if Gwen decides to leave her bedroom someday."  
  
"I have the feeling she will once Teresa leaves L.A."  
  
"Yeah, you're probably right. You know Fox, I never thought that you would be such a great friend to Teresa. I mean for you to go back to Harmony with her to support her with the custody battle when we all know that you hate it there."  
  
"Well, Whitney.I care about Teresa more than I care about anyone else. She is the only person who can see beyond me. And she is the only person who cares about me."  
  
Whitney had a quick smile, then looked at Fox's face and saw how sincere he was about what he had just said.  
  
"It's true, when Teresa loves, it's with her whole heart. She never holds back. The past couple of days have been rough on her and you were the only person who was able to get through to her."  
  
"Well, if I were in her situation, I wouldn't have been able to listen to anyone. My father was underhanded. I told her that she should be careful with him."  
  
The doorbell rang and Fox went to door and opened it. A police officer stood there.  
  
"Officer? What can I do for you?"  
  
"Is this where a Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald resides?"  
  
Fox's face washed out. Whitney got up and ran to the door, she stood beside Fox and looked at the officer.  
  
"Has something happened to her?"  
  
"I'm afraid she was caught in the crossfire between bank robbers and the security staff of the bank."  
  
"What?"  
  
"How is she?"  
  
"She was taken to the hospital and it doesn't look good at all."  
  
Fox didn't move, his mouth was open and he looked at the officer but didn't see him. Teresa had been shot and she may not make it. At last, he heard Whitney whimper. He took his car keys and stormed out of the apartment. He looked over his shoulder to Whitney.  
  
"Let everyone know what happened, Whitney." 


	17. Part 17

Part XVII  
  
Fox drove to the hospital as fast as he could. He kept hitting the red lights and for the first time he noticed that there were too many stop signs on the boulevard. He passed by the bank and saw the yellow tapes around the scene. As he glanced towards the pavement of the sidewalk, he couldn't help but wonder if the blood it was covered with was Teresa's. He shook the thought and kept driving. He replayed the scene in his head, the police officer telling him that Teresa had been shot.  
  
He recalled that at that moment, the world he had built around her had cracked. He knew that if she was to die, it would collapse, fall apart. She meant more to him than he had ever thought.  
  
He arrived at the hospital and went directly to the nurses' desk at the hospital E.R. His heart was beating fast, his palms were sweaty and his head was throbbing.  
  
"Nurse, I'm looking for a shooting victim."  
  
"The name?"  
  
"Teresa Lopez-Fitzgerald."  
  
"She has been admitted, the doctor will be with you shortly. If you would like to take a seat and wait."  
  
Fox looked at her wanting to shout. Why would he want to sit? Teresa had been shot and this nurse wanted him to sit. He felt angry and thought about telling her his last name but stopped himself. He told himself that it would be better to keep his mouth shot and remain on the staff's good side. He did as the nurse requested of him and sat down. He ran his fingers nervously in his hair and bowed his head between his hands and waited. He looked up when he heard someone call his name. Whitney had just arrived with Chad, and Ethan.  
  
"How is she?"  
  
"I don't know yet. The nurse said that a doctor would be here in a few."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I don't know what happened Ethan. She went to the bank and she was supposed to be back and we were supposed to go back to Harmony, but then this police officer came and told us that she had been shot."  
  
"Why didn't you go with her, Fox? Why did you let her go alone?"  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be with your wife, Ethan?"  
  
"This is all your fault Fox. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before you destroyed someone's life. Why did it have to be Teresa? Why couldn't you just leave her the hell alone?"  
  
"Ethan, chill out! This isn't his fault. Fox has done nothing to Teresa."  
  
"Look Chad, Fox destroys everything he touches, except that this time, it's the life of the woman that I love that is hanging in the balance."  
  
Everyone looked at Ethan stunned by his admition. They all knew that Ethan's feelings ran deeper than he was ever willing to admit to himself or to any of them.  
  
"Do you hear yourself? You are married, Ethan."  
  
"If I have anything to say about it, you will never go anywhere near Teresa, Fox."  
  
Fox rose up and looked at Ethan straight in the eyes.  
  
"Well you don't control her, Ethan and you certainly don't control me."  
  
"Guys, take your corners. Teresa has been shot and from what we know she is critical. So let's get together and stand together for her sake."  
  
"Whitney is right, you guys should stop this. Ethan, man, you know that Fox has nothing to do with what went down, if anything he has always been there for Teresa. And Fox, we all know how close you are with Teresa and how much you care for her."  
  
Fox walked away and leaned the wall that was opposite Ethan. He glared at him, then put his hands in his pockets and stared at the lights on the ceiling for a long while. He couldn't understand how something like that could have happened to Teresa. She was going to the bank to pick up some papers that she had to fill out. That's the only reason she was going there. They were supposed to be on their way to Harmony. They were supposed to be sitting in first class sipping on champagne and laughing or talking about little Ethan and how they were going to get him back, or about their future together.  
  
"This cannot be happening, this is a nightmare."  
  
Ethan stood in his corner and looked at Fox who was lost in his thoughts. He couldn't help but loath him, he couldn't help but wish he didn't exist. Ethan wasn't blind, he saw that Fox was taking Teresa away from him a little piece at the time. He saw how happy she was around him.  
  
When he had come back to the apartment after Julian had left with little Ethan, he had found Teresa slumped on the couch, crying in Fox's arms. When he had come close to her to try and consol her, she looked at him, got up and left with Fox behind her. When he passed by their bedroom, he had stopped and looked inside by the crack they had left. Teresa was lying down in Fox's arms, still crying. He had an arm around her and his hand was running up and down her back in a caressing motion. He was the one comforting her. He wasn't saying anything, he just let her cry and she had seemed to calm down little by little until the crying had finally stopped and she had fallen asleep. He had peeked his head inside at a moment when it was dark and had found her asleep in his half brother's arms who was still awake. He hadn't moved and his hand was still caressing her back. How he had hated him.  
  
As Ethan kept staring at Fox, a nurse and a doctor had made their way to the small group.  
  
"How is she?"  
  
Whitney was standing against Chad and waiting for the doctor to answer her question.  
  
"I need to speak to family."  
  
Ethan moved forward and stood in front of the doctor.  
  
"Well, her and I are like family, doctor."  
  
Fox looked at Ethan in utter disgust as he walked up to the doctor.  
  
"I'm her husband doctor, how is she?"  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
"Well, Ethan.would you like me to provide you with a marriage licence because I can. But right now, I'm more interested in knowing how my wife is doing, so if you don't mind."  
  
Whitney, Chad and Ethan were in shock as the doctor took Fox aside. As he put his hand in his hair, all three of them saw the light reflect off of the gold wedding band that he was sporting.  
  
"Oh my God, he really married her." 


	18. Part 18

Part XVIII  
  
"As I was saying, there was an exit wound to the bullet. The biggest problem is that she lost a lot of blood. The next 24 to 36 hours will be critical to her full recovery."  
  
"Can I see her?"  
  
The doctor nodded.  
  
"Of course. She is resting comfortably."  
  
"I would like her to be moved to a private room, so that she isn't bothered."  
  
"The nurse will see to it. She'll take you to her once they put her upstairs."  
  
"Thank you doctor."  
  
The doctor nodded once more and walked away. He spoke to the nurse for a moment and then left with her. Fox stood in the middle of the room.  
  
"Mr. Crane?"  
  
Fox turned around and recognized the police officer who had come to his door earlier, bearer of bad news.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"These are the belongings of Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald."  
  
He handed him Teresa's beige purse which was in a transparent plastic bag and covered in blood. Inside it, Fox saw Teresa's watch, her bracelet and the gold chain she always wore. And the ring.  
  
"She was wearing the ring when this happened?"  
  
"I assume she was, the paramedics took off the jewellery and put it in the bag."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
The officer left and Whitney approached Fox.  
  
"Is this some kind of joke that you two are married?"  
  
He looked at her and didn't say anything. He saw the nurse approach him, he went up to her and followed her all the way into the elevator and then into Teresa's room. He walked inside and closed the door behind him. He stood in the middle of the room and felt his heart ache. He went to the bed and pulled a chair beside her and sat down.  
  
*****  
  
"Teresa, you need to pick yourself up, come one."  
  
She looked at him and she cried even more.  
  
"He took my baby, Fox. He took my son away."  
  
"I know, but Teresa, it doesn't mean that you lost him, far from that. It's a minor set back, that's all. We will be going back to Harmony in a couple of days."  
  
"I told you Fox. Our fate has to be our own or we are nothing."  
  
Teresa got up from the bed and walked around the bedroom. He got up and followed her. He grabbed her arm and forced her to face him.  
  
"What the hell is this nonsense, Teresa? Don't you ever learn? Fate has nothing to do with this. Look what this silly belief has gotten you into. It is time for you to snap out of it once and for all and grow up. The judge is going to want to see a capable woman standing before him, not a little girl. Teresa, it is time to let go and let your life take its course."  
  
He looked at her and felt bad that he had been so rough.  
  
"Look, Teresa. I'm not saying this to hurt you. But I think that this is something that you need to hear. Teresa, your life is about to change a lot and you need to adjust for yourself and for your son."  
  
"You don't understand, Fox. I have done so many things that are coming back to hunt me. There were so many times when I put my love for Ethan ahead of my son. I tried to kill myself while I was pregnant with him, I almost made an orphan of him twice. And the list goes on."  
  
"But everyone knows that you're a good mother, Teresa. Everyone knows how much you love your son."  
  
"Yes, but the judge won't care about that. Fox I have no chance of getting him back. I have no last name, no money, and I can't provide a stable environment for him."  
  
"Yes, you can."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Well, I've been thinking about this for a while. You know how much I love your son, right?"  
  
Teresa nodded as Teresa watched his reaction.  
  
"And there is one thing I don't want for him and it's to grow up the way I did, or turn out the way I did."  
  
"I will be very proud if my son is half the man that you are Fox."  
  
"Thank you for always having faith in me, Teresa."  
  
He smiled at her and let go of her arm.  
  
"Dylan told me a while ago that I found what I was always looking for."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
"A family. You and little Ethan have become my family and I think you feel the same way. There's no way I will let my father tear this apart."  
  
"How do you plan on doing this, Fox? Going up against Julian might cost you everything."  
  
"I don't care about that, Teresa. What matters to me is that you get your son back, I'll deal with the consequences later."  
  
"And how do you plan on doing this?"  
  
"You and I should get married."  
  
He looked at her astonished face and smiled.  
  
"What? It's perfectly reasonable. You and I are already acting like a couple. For the past weeks I acted like little E's father. I love him and he is blood."  
  
"Fox! You are amazing. But what about your mystery woman?"  
  
He shook his head and smiled.  
  
"You and little Ethan matter to me more than she ever will. Besides, I don't think I ever felt anything real for her."  
  
"Still, I can't let you ruin your life for me like that."  
  
Fox crossed his arms on his chest and looked at Teresa.  
  
"If I thought it would ruin my life, Teresa I wouldn't have brought it up."  
  
She went closer to him and planted a kiss on his lips. She put an arm around his neck and her other went up to his face as her hand trailed down his cheek as he felt himself shiver.  
  
"I'm not going to say this because of what you're about to do for me and my son, Fox..."  
  
She let go of him and went to the door and just as she was about to exit, she turned around and faced Fox.  
  
"I think I love you, Fox."  
  
And she walked out, closing the door behind her. Fox sat on the bed and stared at the door for a long while.  
  
*****  
  
Fox looked down at Teresa. She was pale from all the blood that she had lost and the ordeal her body had been through. He looked around and saw the machines and felt sick. He turned his attention to Teresa and took her hand in his.  
  
"It was never Whitney, it was always you. My best friend and everything else that makes my world go round. You are it, Teresa, everything. You're everything. Hang in there, Teresa. Your son needs you, I need you."  
  
He opened the bag the police officer had given him and took the diamond solitaire out. He looked at it for a few seconds then slipped it on her finger.  
  
"I think I love you, Teresa."  
  
*****  
  
Ethan stood outside Teresa's room looking in and completely startled by Fox's revelation.  
  
"Whitney?" 


	19. Part 19

Part XIX  
  
The light of the sun started filtrating slowly and gently through the curtains of the hospital room where Teresa was still recovering from the previous day. Fox opened an eye, then the other. He looked around trying to find his bearings before his gaze fell on Teresa and the machines that were surrounding her. Everything came rushing back to him as he remembered what had happened the day before. He moved his body towards the bed and took Teresa's hand in his. He looked at her, waiting, expecting that she would open her eyes but nothing was happening. As a last resort, he put his chin on her hand and without moving his head, he looked up and waited again.  
  
"Teresa, it's the day, you have to wake up. Maybe we can go to the beach or maybe we can do whatever you want. Name it, I'll do it."  
  
He closed his eyes and opened them a short while later and lifted his head.  
  
"I'll just go get a coffee or something and I'll be back."  
  
He took her hand to his lips and kissed it softly, squeezing it lightly. He let go and took another look at Teresa as he was about to exit the room.  
  
He walked down the hall for a little while before finding a vending machine.  
  
"How is she?"  
  
He turned around and came face to face with Whitney.  
  
"Still the same. Nothing has changed, she is still out of it."  
  
Whitney looked up at Fox's tortured face and squeezed his arm in support.  
  
"She will make it, you know."  
  
"Of course she will, Whitney. She has every reason in the world to live. She is a fighter, she is a survivor."  
  
"Why did you marry her?"  
  
Fox looked at Whitney and had a smile.  
  
"I thought I was in love with you."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I thought I was in love with you, but it was always Teresa. I tried to deny myself the best thing to happen in my life. I never thought I could stand a chance with her knowing how much she loved Ethan."  
  
"You thought you were in love with me?"  
  
Fox nodded and turned back to the vending machine for his coffee.  
  
"I got you some protein shake, I know that you don't like starting your day with caffeine."  
  
"Thanks, but today this is what I need."  
  
He put some money in the vending machine and took his coffee.  
  
"I married her because she deserves to keep her son. No mother should have to go through having her child taken from her especially when it's a good mother."  
  
"I see."  
  
"I have to go back to her, Whitney. Look, I'm sorry for saying the things that I just said to you, about thinking that you were the one."  
  
"Look, don't worry about it. As long as Teresa doesn't find out. Her feelings for you run deeper than she cares to admit it. I don't want to see her hurt over this."  
  
"You and I are the only ones who know this. And I'm not going to tell her and I know you won't tell her either."  
  
"Of course not."  
  
"I really need to get back to her. I don't want her to be alone when she wakes up."  
  
"One last thing, Fox."  
  
"Do you love her?"  
  
He didn't answer her question. He just walked away, leaving her behind staring at his back until he disappeared from her sight.  
  
*****  
  
Fox opened the door to Teresa's room and walked in. He took his seat by her bedside, put his coffee down and looked at her, waiting for the moment when she would wake up.  
  
*****  
  
"You know, Fox, I realized something. Maybe the past is just an anchor holding us back, maybe you have to let go of what you are to become what you will be. I've let go of Ethan. He was my safety and what I knew, but someone else has given it to me and he doesn't hold me back. He lets me be who I am."  
  
Fox stared at Teresa finally understand the meaning behind her phrase.  
  
"I guess I was the one you were talking about, Teresa."  
  
*****  
  
"Why do people die, Fox?"  
  
"To make life important and worthwhile, I guess."  
  
"You have to be alright, Teresa. For everyone who loves you so much, for your baby and for me."  
  
And he knew what he would do and tell her the second she woke up. He would tell her exactly how he felt about her. He wanted her to be the first one to hear what he had to say. 


	20. Part 20

Part XX  
  
Ethan waited in one of the corners of the hallway that led to Teresa's bedroom. He stood there and waited for Fox to leave the room before he went in.  
  
"He is bound to leave sometime. He can't stay cooked up in there forever."  
  
Just as the last words had come out of his mouth, he saw Fox walk past him to the elevator and get inside.  
  
"Some husband, leaving his wife alone in her room, not knowing if she's going to be alright or not."  
  
He made his way to Teresa's room and got inside, not closing the door behind him. He looked at her from where he was standing, then walked up to her bed and sat down, staring down at her face. He heard her cough and then her eyes opened slowly. She looked around, seemingly lost.  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"You're in the hospital, Teresa. You were shot a couple of days ago."  
  
She closed her eyes and swallowed.  
  
"I need water, my throat is really dry."  
  
Ethan took the pitcher of water sitting on the bed side and filled the glass that was beside it. He took it to her lips and she drank slowly. She then gave it back to him.  
  
"Where is Fox?"  
  
"Fox?"  
  
"Yes, Fox. I know he was here, I heard him talk to me. Where is he?"  
  
"He left."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I came to see you."  
  
"You saw me, now you can leave."  
  
"I'm not one to leave the bedside of the woman I love, unlike Fox."  
  
"If every two words that come out of your mouth is about how bad Fox is, then I don't want to hear it, Ethan. And as for you loving me, Ethan, you had your chance, and you missed it."  
  
"Well, you have to hear the truth sometime about Fox, Teresa. And as for my love for you, you know the circumstances and why I had to marry Gwen."  
  
"I do not want to hear your truth, Ethan. I know Fox better than anyone. And besides, you have no right to be here. Does Gwen know where you are?"  
  
"No, she doesn't."  
  
"Well then, she's not stupid, she'll figure it out."  
  
Ethan looked at Teresa and saw the ring on her finger.  
  
"I'll deal with Gwen later, right now I want to know why you are married to Fox, when since the day I met you, you always said that you and I were meant to be, that it was our fate to be with each other."  
  
Teresa shook her head and a smile came to her face as she looked up and her gaze fell on the person standing against the wall in her room where no one could really see him if they didn't pay attention. She kept looking at him as she spoke to Ethan.  
  
"I was young and foolish back then."  
  
"What changed during this month, Teresa? The night that we kissed, you still believed that you and I were meant to be."  
  
"One person opened my eyes to what was and to what is real in my life. He showed me that fate is not what we make it, but what it is, that its path cannot be forced or we end up missing out on the most important things in life like love."  
  
"Love? You had all my love Teresa."  
  
"No, I didn't. You loved the idea of me, the idea of perfection. But I'm not perfect and Fox knows that. He never expected me to be perfect. He just accepts me the way I am."  
  
"What about fate?"  
  
"Let me tell you something, I think that fate took me to you so that I can meet Fox, because I believe that him and I were always meant to be together. All the heartache and pain that I went through is worth this moment in my life when I can finally tell him exactly how I feel about him."  
  
Fox and Teresa's eyes locked and they smiled at each other. Finally, Ethan looked away from Teresa and followed her gaze and saw his half brother standing there. He got up from the chair and looked back at Teresa.  
  
"Because you think that he loves you?"  
  
"I know he does."  
  
"Well, let me tell you something about how Nicholas Foxworth Crane loves Teresa. He can't love because he is cold inside. He'll throw you away like yesterday's trash when he's done with you."  
  
Teresa looked at Ethan with disdain.  
  
"Well Ethan, I'm sure it can't be worst than what you did to me."  
  
"Trust me, Teresa, it will be worst."  
  
On that note, he left Teresa's room and Fox made his way to Teresa's bed.  
  
"I see that you're awake."  
  
"Yeah, and Ethan's face wasn't what I expected to see."  
  
"Sorry about that."  
  
"Don't worry about it, Fox."  
  
He sat beside her on the bed, facing her and he pushed a stray hair out of her face.  
  
"You gave me a scare. When the officer came to deliver the news, I thought you were dead and I realized that my life would never be the same. It's like everything was been destroyed and there was nothing I could do about it. I think I felt broken and lost."  
  
"It doesn't matter how lost you are, Fox. I'll always find you, you can count on that. Besides, I'm not going anywhere."  
  
"You have no idea how happy I am that you're awake and alright."  
  
"You and me both."  
  
"You know that I love you, right?"  
  
"Of course I do and you know that I love you, right?"  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
*****  
  
Ethan stood in the hallway pondering some thoughts.  
  
"I should probably have told her about Whitney right away, but she just came out of it. I'll wait before I show her really what kind of man Fox is." 


	21. Part 21

Part XXI  
  
Gwen sat with Rebecca and Ivy in the Crane mansion.  
  
"We cannot let her get away with what she's done to our grandchild. Teresa has to suffer through the same agony that my Gwennie has gone through since she lost her baby."  
  
"Well, Rebecca, at the rate things are going right now, the custody battle will go on for years."  
  
"I cannot believe your snake of a son married her. I cannot believe he would do this to his won family."  
  
"He loves her Mother, you should have seen them when we were in Los Angeles. At least, she loves him to which means that she is never going back to Ethan."  
  
"I cannot believe she would get involved with my other son. The nerve of that tramp. She is unbelievable. And to top it off, her brat calls him 'daddy', and neither one of them seems to be bothered by it. I cannot believe that Fox would let that happen, this is his brother we are talking about."  
  
"Why do you care now, Ivy? It's not like you ever cared or loved Fox in the first place. So what's the big deal?"  
  
"Yes, Mother, what's the big deal, why do you care so much all of a sudden?"  
  
Fox went to the table and poured himself a cup of coffee, then sat down on one of the vacant chairs, facing his mother and waited for her answer.  
  
"Where is Teresa?"  
  
"Upstairs, dressing her son and I'm still waiting for your answer, Mother."  
  
"You are my son, Fox. Of course I care about you."  
  
"Well that'll be a first. You never cared about anyone but your precious Ethan."  
  
"That's not true, Fox. What I don't understand is why you would even consider marrying Teresa in the first place."  
  
"Well, if you care so much about me like you seem to be claiming right now, then all you need to know is that she makes me very happy and that I love her."  
  
"And the only man she'll ever love is Ethan."  
  
"Oh, Mother! Why are you still singing the same tune? This is getting old. Teresa and I have been married for over 6 months and the only thing that can make our life together better is to get full custody of her son and for us to move out of this house."  
  
"We're all waiting for Teresa to get the hell out of this house."  
  
Fox got up, went to Gwen and sat beside her.  
  
"Why don't you get the hell out of this house, Gwen? You are not a Crane and therefore have no right to be here. If you're so unhappy, the door is right there and trust me, it won't hit you on your way out."  
  
He put his cup of coffee on the table that was beside him, stood up and put his hands in his pockets as he looked down on Gwen.  
  
"Word to the wise, Gwen. Leave my wife alone. Don't think I don't know what you did with those custody papers that were sent to L.A for Teresa."  
  
Gwen's back stiffened and she looked at him.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
He bent down before her and looked her straight in the eyes.  
  
"I'm a Crane, Gwen. I take after Alistair in more ways than one, don't ever forget that. I know what you did, Gwen."  
  
"Are you threatening me?"  
  
"No, I don't threaten, Gwen. I warn, and I'm warning you. I know that you took those papers, I know that you hid them, I know that you tore them. So Gwen stay clear of Teresa and her son. And if you're not happy, you can pack your husband and yourself and leave."  
  
Fox got up and looked at both his mother and Rebecca.  
  
"And if I were the two of you, I would behave. Neither one of you wants to find herself out in the cold and trust me, I'll do it."  
  
"How can you speak to your own mother like that?"  
  
"Please, Mother.enough with the sentiment. Like I said, behave yourselves, you don't want to cross me."  
  
He walked out of the living room and headed upstairs leaving the three women livid.  
  
"Where the hell does he get off speaking to me and to my daughter like that?"  
  
"If I were you, Rebecca, I would listen to what he just said. He is serious and when he gets like this, he is dangerous and he reminds me too much of Alistair."  
  
"Fox is nothing like Alistair."  
  
"No, but he feels that Teresa is threatened which means he will do whatever it takes to protect her." 


	22. Part 22

Part XXII  
  
"I thought I'd find you here."  
  
Teresa turned around and came face to face with Ethan.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Nothing, we never talk anymore."  
  
"Maybe it's because we have nothing to say to each other."  
  
"What happened to us, Teresa?"  
  
"You happened to us, Ethan. And there is no need to rehash the past. I've moved on with my life and I'm happy with Fox. I love him."  
  
"Would you love him so much if I told you who Fox was in love with, who he might still be in love with?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard what I just said, Teresa. The mystery woman, he was in love with."  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"It's Whitney."  
  
Teresa shook as she brought her hand to her mouth.  
  
"No, you're lying."  
  
Ethan looked at her and smiled at the effect he just had on her.  
  
"No, you're the one who is lying, Teresa. I can see it in your eyes that you believe me. I don't want to hurt you."  
  
"Then why are you doing this to me? Is it because you hate me? Is it because you are so unhappy that you can't stand to see me happy with Fox? What is it, Ethan?"  
  
"I just don't think that Fox is good enough for you. He loves Whitney. She is the one he always wanted."  
  
Teresa walked away from him and out of the garden. By the time she had reached the gazebo, she couldn't wake anymore. She sat down on one of the many benches and cried. She knew Ethan hadn't lied to her. Everything was making sense now. Fox had decided to leave for Los Angeles at the same time as Chad and Whitney because his mystery woman was moving there. He had offered them to stay with him, so that he can be close to Whitney. The many times she had caught him staring at her. She couldn't believe how dense she had been, that she hadn't seen it.  
  
And now, she was in love with him. And now she felt her heart breaking worst than anything she had ever known in her life. At least with Ethan, she knew there was always the possibility of Gwen, that he could go back to her. But with Fox, even though she knew that there was this woman, the mere fact that she could put a face on it and that that face was Whitney's felt like a knife was going through her heart. The old wounds had been reopened and Ethan had poured salt on them.  
  
"Teresa."  
  
Fox had put a jacket over her shoulders and sat beside her. She looked at him and he wrapped an arm around her.  
  
"I know you're worried about your son, Teresa. But this is what custody battles are like. At least, we all live under the same roof and he doesn't have to be taken from one home to the other."  
  
She looked at him and tears kept running down her cheeks.  
  
"Honey, you have got to stop doing this."  
  
"I'm not crying over this. Tell me the truth, I have to hear it from you, Fox. Be honest with me, okay?"  
  
"Alright."  
  
"What happens when everything in your life becomes a lie?"  
  
He looked at her puzzled by her question and gave her the same answer he had given her months before when they were in Los Angeles.  
  
"Well, Teresa. When everything in your life becomes a lie, you just have to pick up your life and start over."  
  
"Fox, what was the name of your mystery woman?"  
  
He let go of her and stood up.  
  
"This is not something that you need to know, Teresa."  
  
"But I do."  
  
And as Fox turned around and faced Teresa, he knew that she had found out the truth. He read it in her eyes. She had always been an open book.  
  
"Do I really need to tell you her name, because Teresa, I can see that you already know."  
  
"How could you? How could you keep something this big from me?"  
  
"It was mistake, I never."  
  
"It's okay, Fox. I'm sorry that you got stuck with me."  
  
She walked away from him as fast as she could. She reached the mansion out of breath and ran up the stairs that led to her bedroom. She took her son out of his bed and put a blanket over him and just as she was about to leave, Fox walked in.  
  
"You cannot leave this house with him."  
  
"Says who?"  
  
"Says the judge, Teresa. You are not allowed to leave with him."  
  
"Well I'm not leaving without him."  
  
"No, stay, and I'll go if it makes it easier for you. But Teresa, I love you, you have to know that."  
  
"And I hate you right now."  
  
Fox looked at her hurt. He didn't understand what had happened. Everything was always so perfect between them.  
  
"You don't mean it, Teresa."  
  
"Yes, I do. I don't want to see you. I can't deal with this right now, Fox. Please leave me alone."  
  
"I'm your husband, Teresa."  
  
"Yes, my husband of convenience, my husband who married me out of piety."  
  
Fox just looked at her and knew that he had to go. He left the room and closed the door behind him. He heard her footsteps in the room and her sobbing. He went to one of the guest rooms in the other wing. If Teresa wanted to be alone and without him, then she would get her wish.  
  
'She is beyond special, Teresa.she is in a class of her own. And she is everything that I want.'  
  
"If you only knew that nothing in this world is as important to me as you are. I should have been honest with her from the start." 


	23. Part 23

Part XXIII  
  
Fox sat in the solarium with Little Ethan dressed for the night on his lap and a story book in his hand. He opened the book and started reading until the child fell asleep. He then called one of the maids to put him to bed. As soon as he was gone, Ethan walked in the room and stared at Fox.  
  
"Trouble in paradise?"  
  
Fox looked up at Ethan and stood up facing him.  
  
"What do you want, Ethan?"  
  
"Nothing, I was just wondering why you moved to the other wing two weeks ago."  
  
"It's none of your business, Ethan. What I do is private and you would be wise to butt out."  
  
"Seeing as the truth came out about your sordid little obsession over Whitney.."  
  
"Wait a minute. How did you know about this?"  
  
Ethan didn't reply, instead he looked at Fox with a smirk on his face.  
  
"So, you couldn't stand to see me happy. You couldn't stand that she was happy with someone other than you, so you went ahead and just told her what you thought you knew. How did you know? Whitney couldn't have told you, Dylan hates too much to tell you anything. And I sure as hell never tell you anything."  
  
"Give me more credit than that, Fox, will you?"  
  
Fox crossed his arms on his chest and waited, but the impatience was starting to mount in him as fast as the anger and the resentment he was feeling towards Ethan. He felt them like never before.  
  
"Let me tell you something, Fox. Next time you're about to reveal something as big as the name of the woman you love, make sure that the door is closed properly. You see, Fox, my brother, I overheard you talking to Teresa after she was shot and how it was Whitney."  
  
"And if you had stuck long enough, Ethan, you would have heard that Whitney never meant anything to me and that it was always Teresa I loved, not Whitney."  
  
Ethan laughed and approached Fox so that their faces were only inches apart, taunting him.  
  
"I know that, Fox. I know that Whitney never meant anything real to you, like I know exactly how much you love Teresa, because remember, I was there at the hospital. And I know you didn't marry her just because you wanted her to keep her son, but you married her because you loved her."  
  
"So, if you know all of this Ethan, why do what you did?"  
  
"Because I hate you."  
  
"Well, the feeling is mutual Ethan. But you see, the person who is hurting right now is Teresa. You claim you love her and yet, you go ahead and at every chance you get, you hurt her. I love her and I unlike you, believe her and I will fight for her because she is by far the best thing in my life."  
  
"Well, Fox.be happy while it lasts, because Teresa won't be around forever. She'll wise up and ask for a divorce eventually. I mean it's has been two weeks since you moved out of your bedroom, it's been two weeks since you two are not sharing a bed, and it's been two weeks since I don't hear moaning and saying your name when you make love to her. She isn't even speaking to you, she can't even bring herself to look at you."  
  
"So I'm assuming this is your little victory, isn't Ethan. And for the record, half brother, Teresa is not about to ask for a divorce because her and I share something special. You had your chance with her, you blew it."  
  
"See, Fox.that's where you're mistaken. There was a time when her and I shared something special as well. And I know we can have it again once you're out of the picture."  
  
Fox looked at Ethan with surprise, but then again he asked himself, 'should I be surprised that Ethan is talking like that?' He knew that Ethan still loved Teresa very deeply and he knew that he was dragging Gwen like a dead weight.  
  
"Wishful thinking on your part won't bring her back to you, Ethan. Her and I are married, she loves me."  
  
"No, she loves me."  
  
It was Fox's turn to look at Ethan with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Sure, Ethan.keep living in your world of disillusion. Face the truth once and for all. She has moved with her life with me. Like I said, she is married to me and her and I will be starting a family soon, so butt out of our lives."  
  
Fox left the solarium and Ethan stood there, staring at empty hallway. He then went to window and looked on as Fox sat on bench in the gazebo and bent his head down, running his hand in his hair. Ethan had a smile.  
  
"Fox doesn't seem so sure anymore. He is nervous.I have to speak to Gwen and Teresa." 


	24. Part 24

Part XXIV  
  
Teresa was in the living room in her silk pyjama and assorted robe, going through a fashion magazine when Ethan walked in with Gwen by his side.  
  
"Teresa."  
  
She looked up and looked back down at her magazine. She flipped the page and then folded one of them to mark what she wanted to buy.  
  
"What is, Ethan?"  
  
He looked at her as she kept going through the magazine.  
  
"Can you put that down for a second? We all need to talk."  
  
"There's nothing to talk about. I'm not talking to her, Ethan. I want to go to bed."  
  
"Look, Gwen, this is important."  
  
Teresa finally put her magazine down as Ethan showed a seat to a pouting Gwen. Both and Teresa stared at each other for a few seconds and then turned their attention to Ethan who was standing there, with his hands in his pockets.  
  
"The reason I asked to speak to both of you, is because I want you to know the truth once and for all."  
  
"Well, then make the truth quick. I have other things to do."  
  
"What are those other things that you have to do, Teresa? Buy yourself designer clothes with your husband's money?"  
  
"Shut up, Gwen. I have to check on my son."  
  
"You don't have to, Fox checked on his after the maid put him to bed, right before he went outside."  
  
"Fox checked on him?"  
  
"Yes, Teresa. He did."  
  
Ethan fell silent and looked at her. With her long dark hair and dark eyes, with her smile and the way she held herself since she was married to Fox.He loved her more than before and he wanted her back in his life. He had made a lot of mistakes in his life and letting Teresa go was the biggest of them all. He knew that he could rekindle their love if she could just give him the chance. He just knew it.  
  
"Gwen, I love you. You were my childhood sweetheart, but I think that it was silly of us to think that we could function as a normal couple. And then the baby died."  
  
"And whose fault is that, Ethan? Yours and hers. You knew that I was having a difficult pregnancy, you knew what stress would do to me, then you kiss her and you tell me about it. You could have waited until our baby was born, but no, you didn't."  
  
"Gwen, I want a divorce."  
  
She looked simply looked at him. She had known since the first day of their marriage that Ethan wanted out of it.  
  
"You are the one who wanted to get married, you are the one who wanted to give our child a family. I said no, because I knew that you loved her, because I knew that you were doing it out of obligation for our baby. You are not getting a divorce from me, Ethan. I will not release you. You want to go have an affair? Fine! Go right ahead because I couldn't care less about it. But if I'm unhappy and bitter, so will you be. You know how the saying goes, misery loves company, right? Well, you can be miserable right along with me, Ethan."  
  
He looked at her startled by her violent reaction to his request. He thought that she would have wanted out as well. This marriage was becoming his worst nightmare. It was turning into Ivy and Julian's marriage. Everything that he never wanted for himself.  
  
"But I love Teresa. Gwen, it's Teresa I want."  
  
"I don't love you, Ethan. I am married to your brother."  
  
"Half brother, Teresa. And you don't need to remind me that you are married to that good for nothing."  
  
"Good for nothing? Good for nothing? How dare you speak of him that way, Ethan? He is a great husband and an excellent father to my son."  
  
"He is not his father, Teresa. Julian is."  
  
"You don't have to raise your voice to me, Ethan. These are our lives and I'm happy with him. I love him."  
  
"Is that why you've been sleeping in separate rooms? Is that why he lied to you about Whitney?"  
  
"Why don't you mind your own business, Ethan?"  
  
"Who is talking to you, Gwen? Last time I checked, this conversation was between me and Teresa. You weren't included."  
  
Gwen had a sarcastic laugh and stood up as she looked at Ethan.  
  
"You are deciding my future and you want me to butt out? I am not butting out, Ethan and I'm not budging either. I'm staying right here in this mansion, married to you, while your precious Teresa stays married to your half brother. You heard the woman, she loves him and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that you can do about it.just like there's nothing you can do about divorcing me. I'm not going anywhere, got that?"  
  
She turned to Teresa who was still sitting down and looking at them.  
  
"Maybe him getting me pregnant was the best thing to happen in your life, Teresa."  
  
"I know it is, Gwen."  
  
Fox's words resounded in Teresa's head, that night on the balcony in Los Angeles as they stood there and contemplated the skyline. 'About love, maybe it isn't an emotion or a feeling. Maybe love is just a fact, maybe it's just a truth.'  
  
Now, at last, what he said was beginning to sink in and she was understanding what he meant because he had felt what she had felt and he had felt her like she was feeling him.  
  
"If you'll excuse me, I have to go to my husband and make things right between us."  
  
She got up and left the living room walking as fast as she could. She knew she would find Fox sitting at the gazebo under her window like all the other nights since he had moved out of their bedroom.  
  
Ethan looked at Gwen for an instant, then went after Teresa who had disappeared outside. 


	25. Part 25

Part XXV  
  
Teresa walked up to the gazebo as fast as she could, then slowed the pace as she started seeing Fox's form. She caught her breath as she stood behind him.  
  
"Fox."  
  
He didn't turn around, but she saw his back straighten up and she knew he had heard her and she knew she had his attention.  
  
"Fox, look at me, please."  
  
He got up, putting his hands in his pockets, and he faced her. She walked up to him, not losing the contact between them. She gave him a weak smile and put her hand on his arms. She felt him tense up.  
  
"This was always one of my favourite places when I was growing up. It's peaceful and beautiful."  
  
"My father built this place. When I come here, it makes me feel closer to him, like he is right here with me."  
  
"You and I never really had it easy, have we?"  
  
"If we had had it easy, Fox, then maybe things would be very different right now."  
  
"What do you want, Teresa? A divorce?"  
  
"What? No, no!"  
  
"I know that hurt you, Teresa. I'm sorry."  
  
"Let me talk, please."  
  
He looked at her, trying to figure out what she was about to say and waiting for her to speak. He felt nervous but at ease because she said that she didn't want to divorce him.  
  
"Fox, remember when I asked you about love?"  
  
"Yes, I do. I told you that it was a truth rather than emotion."  
  
"Ethan was saying how he wanted me back today."  
  
Fox's face paled and he felt that he was about to explode.  
  
"What? He did what?"  
  
"That's not the bottom line, Fox. He made me realize something and I understood what you meant when you said that."  
  
He nodded, encouraging her to continue.  
  
"I know what love is. It's how I feel every time I see you, every time you touch me or whenever I see my son in your arms or whenever his face lights up when you walk in the room. It's how my heart beats when you are near me like now, or how I sleep at night when you're beside me. You are everything to me, and everything that is important. You are my family, you are my truth and you are the one who makes my emotions run as deep as they do."  
  
"And what do you exactly want from me, Teresa?"  
  
"I want my husband by my side. I want the man my son calls 'Daddy' to always be there for him, every day of his life. I want the man of my life, the man of my life back where he belongs."  
  
She waited for him to say something, but he didn't. Instead, he took his hands out of his pockets and opened his arms to her as Ethan stood in the shadows of a tree and looked at Teresa walking up to Fox and going in his arms and as he closed them around her. He knew that Teresa was really lost to him. He watched as both Fox and Teresa looked at each other smilingly and as their lips connected in a passionate kiss that seemed to last forever. At last, he heard Teresa's voice whisper I love yous to Fox and him whispering the same thing to her.  
  
*****  
  
Teresa opened her eyes and lifted her head from her pillow. She looked around to find her bearings and finally realized that she was in her bedroom in Los Angeles, in the Crane apartment.  
  
"Oh my God, where did this dream come from?"  
  
She got up and walked around the room to try and clear her mind. Her gaze fell on a picture that was sitting on her desk. She took it and looked at it. Fox was smiling down at her and she was smiling up at him and they looked perfectly happy, like a real couple. She caught herself wondering why she had never thought about Fox that way.  
  
"Oh, that's right.because I was always so obsessed by Ethan."  
  
She put it back down and put her robe on. She left her room and closed the door behind her and without making a noise, she walked through the living room and arrived at the balcony. She stood under the threshold and looked at Fox who was standing staring at a distance.  
  
"Fox?"  
  
He turned around and smiled at her with one of those smiles that he always gave her and only her. She had noticed that a long time ago, that there were things like that he did only with her. Like how he told her everything and like he never needed to say words to comfort her. His mere presence or a simple touch always sooths her.  
  
"What's wrong, Teresa?"  
  
"Nothing. How tired are you?"  
  
"I'm still up, aren't I? What's up Teresa?"  
  
"Do you think we can talk?"  
  
He sat down and she did the same. She swallowed and looked at him.  
  
"Fox." 


	26. Part 26

Part XXVI  
  
Fox seemed far away, lost in his thoughts.  
  
"A quarter for your thoughts."  
  
He laughed as he recalled that day at the church when he had told her that.  
  
"A quarter? I thought it was supposed to be a penny."  
  
"Well, I was fake married to Julian Crane, I learned that they don't things the way the common people do."  
  
She sat closer to him and spaced out for a few minutes. He looked at her, wondering what was going on in her mind.  
  
"You seem serious, Teresa. You never get like this unless you're about to blab something huge."  
  
Teresa looked at him with a smile.  
  
"No one knows me the way you do, Fox."  
  
"And no one knows me quiet like you do either, Teresa. So what's going on in that pretty head of yours?"  
  
"What if you had the chance to change things in your life and make it better. What if you discovered that everything you held to be true is not?"  
  
"Okay, Teresa.help me out here. I don't think I'm following."  
  
"Okay, let me put simplify it for you, Fox. How do you feel about me?"  
  
He looked at her completely thrown by her question, he stared at her feeling uneasy.  
  
"I.I."  
  
"Did you come to Los Angeles because of Whitney?"  
  
She looked at him, anticipating his answer. He looked at her.  
  
"Look, Teresa. I won't lie to you. I had, maybe even still have a thing for Whitney, but I don't love her if that's what you're implying. She is one of the reasons why I came here."  
  
"If Whitney isn't the only reason you're here.."  
  
"Then why am I here? I'm here because my father wanted me to leave Harmony. The night at the hospital when you thought that Ethan was hurt and I drove you there, I ran into Julian and we had a showdown.I wanted us to start over as father and son, I wanted to have a relationship with him and he said that he didn't want any part of me."  
  
She looked at him shocked by what he had just said. But then, why should she be surprised that Julian would treat Fox like that?  
  
"I'm so sorry to hear that, Fox. Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were closer than that."  
  
"We are close, Teresa. Extremely close. But you were hurting over what Ethan had told you and how Gwen and Rebecca had behaved with you. I didn't want to burden you with my own problems."  
  
"Don't you know that you can never burden me, Fox? You and I are friends. In fact you are my best friend and so much more than that. Is that why you decided to leave Harmony?"  
  
Fox nodded his head.  
  
"Yes, I needed a change of scenery and since Chad and Whitney were coming here, I decided to join them."  
  
"So, your mystery woman."  
  
"was Whitney. But I know better, you have to believe that, Teresa."  
  
He smiled at her and she smiled back at him.  
  
"The only 2 people I was going to miss beyond words were you and your son, because you were and are the only good thing going in my life. You're like the family I never had. When you were living in the mansion, there was this humanity around me. I felt warm inside and then you left and you took it all with you."  
  
"Is that why you wanted me here with you?"  
  
He nodded as he looked at her.  
  
"I always want you around, Teresa. You're the only person who knows everything about me, who never judges me or compares me to Ethan. You are the only person I have this much fun with, even when you get all serious on me like right now. Most importantly, you have shown more faith in me than anyone ever in my life."  
  
She laughed at his remark and slid her hand in his. He looked down and smiled. It felt warm and.and perfect.  
  
"Why are you getting like this on me, Teresa? What's up?"  
  
"Last night, when you and I went down to the beach for our nightly swim, you said something when I was going on and on about how fate would bring Ethan and me together."  
  
She paused for a second.  
  
"Do you remember what you said to me? About the man who would come in my life."  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
'You'll end up with the person you are destined to be with and Ethan is not it. The man you will end up with will love you unconditionally, with all your flaws and qualities and will your son as well because he is the best part of you. That man will look past everything and will see you, Teresa, and no one else and he will never let anything stand in his way to be with you. He will love you because he won't have the choice but to love you when he lays his eyes upon that beautiful face of yours.'  
  
"Fox, you never did answer my question, how do you feel about me?"  
  
"I care for you a lot, my feelings for you are certainly there and I can't deny or push them away because they constantly come back. And if it wasn't for you been so damn stubborn about Ethan, I think that you and I could have had something great. But you chose to stay behind in Harmony because of him, and the only reason you're here is because your mother insisted on it."  
  
"No, I came here to give him and Gwen their space, so that they don't have to worry about me and that she can deliver a healthy baby. But they are both here now, and I'm still keeping away from them."  
  
"You mean from Gwen."  
  
"Umm, okay, I was keeping from Gwen, but now I'll stay away from Ethan too. Fox, I had a dream tonight and I realized something."  
  
He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face.  
  
"When you left, I missed you a lot. I felt like a part of me was gone with you, a piece of myself. And I didn't really understand that feeling because you and I were just friends. But I think I understand where those feelings come from."  
  
She stopped and saw that she had his attention. He was looking at her and he gave a hand a gentle squeeze.  
  
"Fox, about the dream that I had tonight.the talk you gave me about fate and destiny been linked together and how we can't force either because we might miss out on what's really meant to be. I understand now that the future will take care of itself."  
  
"So you were actually listening to me?"  
  
"I always listen when you talk to me, Fox. I just pretend I don't."  
  
"Tell me about your dream."  
  
"Well, it's kind of embarrassing."  
  
"You started, you have to finish and I'm really curious right now, so don't back down now."  
  
"In my dream, you and I had become a couple and we were even married."  
  
He looked at her and smiled.  
  
"Wow! That is one thing I didn't expect."  
  
She got up from her chair and crossed her arms on her chest.  
  
"I knew you wouldn't take me seriously."  
  
It was his turn to get up. He touched her shoulder and slid his hand right along her arm. She turned around and faced him, seeing him in this new light or was it? He was so different, so amazing and she adored him because he was everything she had ever wanted and because he was her comfort and he was the one person she never wanted to disappoint like she was the one person he never wanted to do wrong.  
  
"Tell me, Teresa, were we happy, you and I?"  
  
"Very happy, and very much in love. And it felt so right and so wonderful and it was so beautiful, Fox. And I felt all of it, here in my heart, and I loved every second of it and how it made me happy to be with you."  
  
Fox kept looking at her and his smile widened.  
  
"And when I woke up, I saw this picture of us together and how happy we looked together, and it got me thinking about how genuine we are with each other and how close and dear you are to me and how empty my life would be without you in it. I came to rely on you so much and I came to really care about you and to really like you. I know that my feelings for you run deeper than I ever cared to admit before."  
  
"How do I know you are been sincere about this, Teresa? No later than yesterday, you were saying that Ethan was the man you wanted, and tonight with all these cryptic messages, you are telling me that I'm the one for you, is that it? How do I know that you won't go running back to Ethan?"  
  
"Have I ever lied to you, Fox?"  
  
"No, you never lied to me, Teresa. I guess all of this came as a surprise to me."  
  
"That maybe my feelings for are so deep that I'm willing to jump in with you? To risk everything?"  
  
"No, that you feel the same way I feel about you, Teresa."  
  
"Kiss me, Fox."  
  
She didn't have to ask him twice. He bent his head slightly as she stood on her toes and closed her eyes. She felt his lips brush lightly against hers.  
  
"I wanted this since the first time I laid eyes on you, Teresa."  
  
"I guess I would be lying if I said that I wasn't attracted to you since I met you, Fox."  
  
Once again, his lips brushed against hers and this time, their mouths opened a little to give each other access, and as Teresa felt the kiss deepen between them, she felt her that her heart was about to explode as well. She knew that if things felt this right, then what she felt for Fox was real. A whisper crossed her lips.  
  
"Fox."  
  
He opened his eyes and looked at her.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"That was the best kiss I ever had."  
  
"I've always wanted you, Teresa. You're like this person who is beyond my reach, that I dreamt of having many night but couldn't."  
  
"Well, now you can Fox."  
  
They smiled at each other, happy that finally their friendship was blossoming into something more. They both found a place where they finally belonged.  
  
"I was thinking that w should go down to the beach, just you and I tomorrow."  
  
"Whatever you want, Teresa."  
  
'About love, maybe it isn't an emotion or a feeling. Maybe love is a just fact, maybe it's just a truth.'  
  
He took her hand an they walked inside the living room as they made their way to his bedroom.  
  
"You are my truth Fox."  
  
He pulled her to him and kissed her head as they walked inside his room.  
  
"As you are mine, Teresa. As you are mine." 


End file.
